Contact: John Snyder, St. Gabriel Possenti Society, 301-365-3180
ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- "The St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc. (www.gunsaint.com) today commemorates the February 27 official feast day of its patron and namesake," John M. Snyder, Society Founder/Chairman, announced here this morning.
St. Gabriel Possenti was a Catholic seminarian who rescued villagers of Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy in 1860 from a renegade band of marauding soldiers with the use of handguns.
"On that occasion," noted Snyder, "young Gabriel grabbed a handgun from the holster of a renegade intent on rape of a young woman. Gabriel forced the renegade to release his intended victim. Gabriel wrested a second handgun from a companion renegade. He pointed the two guns at the rest of the gang who were intent on accosting him. He nailed a lizard which happened to run across the way with one shot. He told the now-frightened bandits to cease and desist. He forced them to return the property they had stolen and to put out the fires they had started. He marched the gang out of town at gunpoint. The townspeople accompanied him back to his monastery, proclaiming him the 'savior of Isola.'"
St. Gabriel Possenti died of natural causes two years later. Pope Benedict XV canonized him in 1920.
"From the life of St. Gabriel Possenti, we observe that holiness and righteous force with the use of handguns can and do coincide," continued Snyder. "St. Gabriel Possenti used his handgun marksmanship in the rescue of an entire village without causing physical harm to a single human being. Hopefully, people of various faiths, including prelates of the Catholic Church and leaders of other denominations, will take this lesson to heart and even meditate on it during this Lenten season."
The interdenominational St. Gabriel Possenti Society emphasizes the historical, philosophical and theological bases for the doctrine of legitimate self-defense. International in scope, it promotes official Vatican designation of St. Gabriel Possenti as Patron of Handgunners. The Society celebrates its 20th anniversary throughout 2009.
Contact: John Snyder, 301-365-3180
