There is a tradition surrounding Saint Gabriel Possenti that is quite romantic. How much if it is myth and how much is history, I will leave to others. I learned of it from a laminated card, found in a book owned by a certain priest. One one side of the card is printed “Guide my aim.” (The priest in question is a hunter.) On the other side there is a brief story that goes like this.
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.
St. Gabriel 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 St. Gabriel Possenti, "the Savior of Isola.”
So, Garibaldi, the revolutionary, was, alas, also, known for ravaging the people he "liberated."
My Aunt Mamie blamed all and I mean all social ills, including the higher prices at the butcher's, on the unification of Italy.
St Eastwood of Isola