Hidden for two Millenia, the Messiah’s Ring has returned to Rome. 

Two identical Rings were cast weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. One bore the inscription Pilatus, the other, Messiah. The Pilatus Ring was buried in the tomb of Herod, the other taken by early Christians far beyond Judea. First to Greece where it was kept in the shadow of Mount Olympus. From there to Rome. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Irish Monks tasked with its safekeeping sailed from Portus, on the Tyrrhenian coast, to Skellig Michael off the West coast of Ireland. There they founded an Abbey to safeguard the Messiah’s ring.

Throughout the ages, only two people carried the secret of its existence – the Abbot of Skellig Michael & the Bishop of Rome. When the Abbey became unoccupied in the thirteenth century, it was decided by the last Abbot and the Bishop of Rome, that a monk would be selected to help keep the ring’s secret and its location safe on the desolate rock in the Atlantic. Thus the intricate selection of Bishop and Monk has taken place beyond the knowledge of others. In 2018, archeeologists revealed that a ring discovered in Herodium in 1969 quite possibly belonged to Pontius Pilate. The guardians of the Messiah Ring knew the first part of an ancient prophecy had been fulfilled.

Accidental, intentional or by the will of God, millions have died from Covid, our existence threatened – but human ingenuity battled the threat and society breathes without masks once again. The Bear who rules with an iron fist has not been hibernating. Directing his ire and greed towards his neighbour’s children and their land, he unleashes war on innocents.  The Star of David drips tears of blood while his children seek vengeance on guilty and innocent alike. And the Eagle sitting with folded arms casts its democratic crown into the furnace and the son of an immigrant sends out his legions to persecute his own kind.

The Messiah must reveal himself to the world.

So what has this to do with an alcoholic, and very irreverent Irish priest. Father James P. Brennan?

Read The Last Ring of Skellig Michael, the third novel in the Father Brennan series. It will be published mid 2026.