The Archbishop's Last Mass: A Father Declan Supernatural Mystery

By Patrick Dorn

Mercy for a Martyr

When Father Declan encounters the caged ghost of a martyred archbishop in a Dublin park, he risks life and limb—but mostly limb—to help the earthbound spirit fulfill a 400-year-old dying wish. 

Introducing Oratorian Father Paolo as a young combat exorcist, with a special guest appearance by a semi-sentient torture blob. 

Set in Ireland, the Father Declan Supernatural Mysteries are upbeat, redemptive contemporary fantasy short stories. Some are humorous, and others mildly horrifying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patrick Dorn
• Release date: Sep 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223965022

Patrick Dorn

Patrick Dorn used to write weird westerns set in Old California, New Mexico, and Colorado, but then he visited Ireland. Now his supernatural fiction alternates between The West and The Emerald Isle, but is always, always weird. He's also an Anglican priest and a full-time chaplain. Check out Patrick's blog, stories, plays, musicals, children's books, and more at www.PatrickDorn.com. You can reach him at [e-mail]

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The Archbishop’s Last Mass

THE ARCHBISHOP’S LAST MASS

A FATHER DECLAN MYSTERY

PATRICK DORN

The Archbishop’s Last Mass Copyright © 2023 by Patrick Dorn.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To the Latin Mass Chaplaincy of The Archdiocese of Dublin, https://www.latinmassdublin.ie/ and The Dublin Oratory in Formation, https://www.dublinoratory.com/ who provided much-needed background for this story. If you are interested in traditional Catholic spirituality and worship, I encourage you to contact these organizations.

CONTENTS

Mercy for a Martyr

The Archbishop’s Last Mass

Also by Patrick Dorn

About the Author

MERCY FOR A MARTYR

When Father Declan encounters the caged ghost of a martyred archbishop in a Dublin park, he risks life and limb—but mostly limb—to help the earthbound spirit fulfill a 400-year-old dying wish.

Introducing Oratorian Father Paolo as a young combat exorcist, with a special guest appearance by a semi-sentient torture blob.

Set in Ireland, the Father Declan Supernatural Mysteries are upbeat, redemptive contemporary fantasy short stories. Some are humorous, and others mildly horrifying.

THE ARCHBISHOP’S LAST MASS

Franciscan Father Declan O’Shea hesitated several meters down the rubbish-strewn, urine-reeking Liberty Lane in south Dublin, then decided it was too late to turn back now.

He had just passed the stark black entrance to the Opium Live cabaret and was halfway through the narrow—altogether too narrow—cobblestone alley when he spied the slumped figure of a drunken man, swathed in a ragged scrap of stained canvas. The derelict was propped up in the shadows of a garishly graffiti-spattered brick wall.

Like the priest in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Father Declan wished to avoid a dangerous encounter that could delay an important appointment. In this case, his destination was a collectibles shop on Wexford Street that would soon close for the night. He’d been asked to use his spiritual gift of Insight to examine a potentially cursed sheela na gig figurine.

His plans for the evening did not include being accosted, beaten, or left for dead.

Not everyone understood the futility of robbing a Franciscan friar. In his monastic habit, it didn’t even appear as if he had pockets. But that wouldn’t stop the desperate, delusional, or