Catholic gun owners - Had your guns blessed by a priest?

[Justin]

Just as long as you're not looking for a Dungeons & Dragons-type "magic missile enchantment"...

What, no +2 against goblins enhancement?

 

[Gunnutz13]

Hey...

...isn't your screen name the name of the patron saint of marksmen...St. Gabriel Possenti ?! There is even a feast day and medallion confered on a lucky soul who protects the faith...right ?

 

[Mr. James]

Gunnutz,

You're close. The Church does not recognize him as patron saint of handgunners, marksmen or such. The St. Gabriel Possenti Society is trying to correct that oversight.



From their web site:

The St. Gabriel Possenti Society promotes the public recognition of St. Gabriel Possenti, including his Vatican designation as Patron Saint of Handgunners.

St. Gabriel Possenti was a Catholic seminarian whose marksmanship and proficiency with handguns single-handedly saved the village of Isola, Italy from a band of 20 terrorists in 1860.

The Possenti Society offers a variety of materials related to St. Gabriel Possenti and a biblical understanding of self-defense.

The Savior of Isola

In 1860, a band of soldiers from the army of Garibaldi entered the mountain village of Isola, Italy. They began to burn and pillage the town, terrorizing its inhabitants.

Possenti, with his seminary rector's permission, walked into the center of town, unarmed, to face the terrorists. One of the soldiers was dragging off a young woman he intended to rape when he saw Possenti and made a snickering remark about such a young monk being all alone.

Possenti quickly grabbed the soldier's revolver from his belt and ordered the marauder to release the woman. The startled soldier complied, as Possenti grabbed the revolver of another soldier who came by. Hearing the commotion, the rest of the soldiers came running in Possenti's direction, determined to overcome the rebellious monk.

At that moment a small lizard ran across the road between Possenti and the soldiers. When the lizard briefly paused, Possenti took careful aim and struck the lizard with one shot. Turning his two handguns on the approaching soldiers, Possenti commanded them to drop their weapons. Having seen his handiwork with a pistol, the soldiers complied. Possenti ordered them to put out the fires they had set, and upon finishing, marched the whole lot out of town, ordering them never to return. The grateful townspeople escorted Possenti in triumphant procession back to the seminary, thereafter referring to him as "the Savior of Isola".

The Church presently recognizes him as patron of "the Abruzzi region of Italy, clerics, students, young people in general."

 

[GD]

Blessing

Thanks for the idea! I hunt with a priest every year. I'll get him bless the collection.

 

[Pappy John]

I never thought about having my guns blessed, although I do have a certain Mauser that might benefit from an exorcism.

 

[GLOCKME]

In my area,it would have to be done at an area other than the Church.No firearms allowed on the property,even with a proper CPL..

I do know one local Priest that wears Ruger and SW gear all the time..

I shall check it out with him for an off site Blessing..

 

[TheLastBoyScout]

I've never heard of the priests in my area blessing any objects. Just people and animals (St. Francis' Day).


[comic book guy] St. Gabriel Possenti... Best. Patron Saint. Ever. [/comic book guy]

Never heard of him either.

 

[GLOCKME]

The same priest does a Blessing of The Bikes every year..

 

[carebear]

What, no +2 against goblins enhancement?

No Justin, although goblins are evil in nature, they are not undead or demonic in origin thus are not susceptable to the positive effects of holy or blessed weapons, symbols or the turning or banishing powers of clerics.

Just good old fashioned smiting.

 

[Texian Pistolero]

Rumor is that some priests will only bless .45 ACP, but not 9mm. Some, nothing smaller than .380 ACP.

Is this true?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Priests in the Order of Saint John (that's Saint John Moses Browning) will only bless weapons and cartridges he developed. Some of the more orthodox members of that order will bless a 94 Winchester, but not a 336 Marlin. Others will bless the Marlin, but only if it's in .30-30.

 

[possenti]

Priests in the Order of Saint John (that's Saint John Moses Browning) will only bless weapons and cartridges he developed.

Cool. Now I have another excuse to buy that Springfield 1911 Milspec I've been drooling over...

...and the Serbu .50 BMG.

I'm sure my wife will understand.

 

[horge]

Jokes are nice, heheh.
But seriously...

I have never met a Catholic priest who would NOT bless a firearm.
They might be taken aback at first, if they are unused to it.
Obviously, you want to invite the priest over expressly for the blessing
---just popping up at church with firearm in hand can startle, hehehe.
Now, if it seems STRANGE to some that a Catholic priest would approve
the keeping and bearing of arms, then the actions and words of
the Christ Himself might clarify matters:

A lot is made of Jesus' admonition to Peter at Gethsemane ("Those who live by the sword..."),
but what that story shows is that

1. Peter HAD a weapon to draw
2. The Lord did not object to the Apostle Peter's keeping and bearing
of a weapon (a chereb) prior

However, Peter chose to trust his weapon instead of the Lord physically present
before him. Jesus didn't need Peter's steel, but today, many innocents
--our loved ones and even those we've never met-- just might.
For so long as Catholics keep and bear in the context of Christian belief,
they aren't "living by the sword".

The act of bringing a weapon for 'blessing' is in itself a gesture of submission
to God's will and mercy, and should be encouraged. Rather than an attempt
to obtain some sort of "+4 vs. undead" (yes, I know it was humor), it is an
expressed submission to moral guidance.

Regardless of religion involved, that sounds like a good thing.


JMHO.

 

[MikeB]

Quote:
What, no +2 against goblins enhancement?


No Justin, although goblins are evil in nature, they are not undead or demonic in origin thus are not susceptable to the positive effects of holy or blessed weapons, symbols or the turning or banishing powers of clerics.

Just good old fashioned smiting.

Uhm technically a blessing spell in AD&D gives a +1 attack and +1 to your armor against all foes. So theoretically it would work against goblins.

I'm pleading the fifth as to how I know this.

 

[patentnonsense]

When is the feast day of Bl. Gabriel Possenti? Might be a good occasion, in the right parish, to organize a group blessing at a friendly local range.

 

[possenti]

When is the feast day of Bl. Gabriel Possenti? Might be a good occasion, in the right parish, to organize a group blessing at a friendly local range.

SUnday, Feb. 27. Good idea!



Jorge - Great post above.

 

[M2 Carbine]

In 1960 a Priest look me up to buy a pistol.

I sold him one and couldn't resist asking if he would be willing to kill with it to save his life.
Me thinking that a Priest should be like a good Captain and go down with the ship.

He said he would kill to save his life, he didn't want to be killed by some low life any more than anyone else.

I don't know if he blessed his gun or not.

 

[abaddon]

Horge

I concur with possenti - great post.

 

[Whiskey Mike]

Hello All,
I have a business that builds rifles for Law Enforcement. For quite awhile I didn't say anything at church about what it is I do. Well the subject of firearms came up one day and it slipped...Much to my surprise the Father was a shooter and hunter. We invited him out to a service rifle shoot and a USMC coach buddy of mine, gave him some intructions....TEN's and X's. Too bad most matches are on his work day. He came out to my shop back then and blessed every lathe and mill in the shop. Those machines are running six days a week and still running good. This was not in a small town, This happened in SoCal.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

It should be perfectly ok, but you have to consider which priest you ask. The more old fashioned probably wouldn't mind, as soldiers had traditionally had their weapons blessed.

As for priests and guns, I remember talking to a mission priest in his rectory (i.e., like his apartment), and there on the table was a Beretta Model 92 in it's Beretta carrying case. I didn't comment on it, but found it really interesting.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Uhm technically a blessing spell in AD&D gives a +1 attack and +1 to your armor against all foes. So theoretically it would work against goblins.

I'm pleading the fifth as to how I know this.

Mike, nothing to be ashamed of. I played AD&D in college too. Last time I played was around 1990. I still occasionally see some of the group members, and we talk about getting a game together, but it never happens. Too bad. I loved that game. We'd start around four in the PM and wouldn't finish till about midnight. If you have a good DM it can be an extremely fun game. And yes, it gives weapons a plus one to hit and on damage. Without at least that, it would be impossible to even damage some monsters.

 

[HungSquirrel]

(They also take the alter servers to the range as a reward).

Something tells me my parents picked the wrong church to take me to! I never got to fire a weapon as an altar boy.

 

[MikeB]

Mike, nothing to be ashamed of.

Not ashamed, just partially joking and partially not wanting to bring a whole AD&D conversation into this thread. Which of course I'm now partially doing anyways. Oops.

I played AD&D in college too. Last time I played was around 1990.

That's about the last time I've played the pen and paper version myself. It was in college as well. We actually had the college recognize us as a club for playing AD&D - that was kinda cool a room in the student center to play and whatnot.

I still occasionally see some of the group members, and we talk about getting a game together, but it never happens. Too bad. I loved that game. We'd start around four in the PM and wouldn't finish till about midnight. If you have a good DM it can be an extremely fun game. And yes, it gives weapons a plus one to hit and on damage. Without at least that, it would be impossible to even damage some monsters.

I agree, the game can be very interesting; especially with a good DM. I don't know if you're aware but the game Neverwinter Nights and it's add ons allow for group play with roughly accurate AD&D rules. You can play with as many people as you want over the internet, someone can even act as a DM. There are voice options available. The game comes with a toolset that allow someone to make their own modules as well. It's pretty fun I play with a couple other guys once in a while.

Too get back on topic.

Much to my surprise the Father was a shooter and hunter. We invited him out to a service rifle shoot and a USMC coach buddy of mine, gave him some intructions....TEN's and X's.

I'm not particularly religious but have a few friends who are and I've noticed this same phenomenon when shooting with them and their "pastors". I have to admit that I've also been surprised many a time when meeting a clergyman while tossing up some darts, having a beer, shooting some guns, out hiking/biking/camping, etc. things that for some reason many of us heathens don't seem to identify with clergy. Personally I like that I can share experiences with people that have very different ways of life than me and share a kinship as well without any judgements against each other through a shared hobby.