Fr Nicholas Dillon

Catholic priest and organist from small town (Winton) New Zealand now living in big city (Melbourne) Australia.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@carbo_al F.J. Haydn's Te Deum recorded in the old Cathedral, with some historic photos showing the early years of Francis William Petre's masterpiece.
https://t.co/oqYbVxUtM1

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@carbo_al Those of us who knew the old will probably never be satisfied with a replacement. New one is underwhelming. Exterior boring with lots of roof. Interior strange mix of styles with lots of ceiling. Would benefit from clerestory. Better to have Roman style in such a gothic city.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@MaryLee99968217 At least a reredos of some sort. I have that here at Blackburn North with a free-standing Altar and central Tabernacle.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

The design for the new Catholic Cathedral in Christchurch New Zealand has been released. Very underwhelming. A cliché of geometric pieces that forms what people generally expect a church to look like. Nothing of the coherence, form, and beauty of the old Cathedral.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@MaryLee99968217 I'm imagining they will add interest to the interior with liturgical furnishings and sacred artworks. The current images will just be showing where things will go. It would have been better to have a much more developed sanctuary and interior plan to present to the public.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

The Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy national conference is being held in Melbourne next week. Main speaker is Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He will give a public lecture at Newman College, Parkville, on Wednesday 8 July 2026 at 7.30pm. All welcome!

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

Annual Mass counts do not factor in weekday Mass attendance. At 9.00am Mass each weekday at St Philip's Church Blackburn North we average around 50 people present. At 11.00am Benediction today, 25/6/26, over 30 people attending. The voice of prayer is never silent.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@AUSNIAN So many horror stories & lost heritage. I remember 1990s at secondary school in Dunedin women religious gleefully throwing statues into a skip and slashing religious paintings with knives as they packed up the old south site of the college. No surprise, their order has collapsed.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

People are astonished/aghast to learn the High Altar in St Joseph's Cathedral Dunedin was to be smashed up & dumped in Otago Harbour 1970. The choirmaster & a local artist saved it. Went to Public Art Gallery for 25 yrs, then restored to the Cathedral. I saw it return bit by bit.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

The Catholic Diocese of Dunedin is asset rich & cash poor. Many fine buildings/churches/chapels falling into disrepair through lack of funds to maintain them. The beautiful Priory Chapel beside the Cathedral is leaking, the powerboard has failed, and paint is flaking. All so sad.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

CORPUS CHRISTI 7 June 2026 - 'Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence' arranged by Gustav Holst. Recorded at 10.30am Solemn Mass, St Philip's Church, Blackburn North.
https://t.co/T7uY6i3a6n

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

Mozart's Spatzenmesse, Laudate Dominum, Ave Verum, and Church Sonata K.263 will feature at Solemn Mass for Corpus Christi. Schubert's Tantum Ergo D.461 also to be heard. St Philip's Church Blackburn North Sunday 7 June 2026.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@scecclesia @AUSNIAN @AntipodeEmpire The audio on the livestream is just what the standard microphones in the church (altar, lecturn, & chair) pick up of the acoustic sound in the building. For such a simple setup, the audio is surprisingly good. I do have a separate stereo recording that gives a more dynamic sound.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

Ascension Thursday 14 May 2026. Great to have an opportunity to offer a Missa Cantata on the biblical day of the Ascension of the Lord - 40 days after His Resurrection. St Aloysius' Church Caulfield North.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

Feast of the Annunciation.
O God, who didst will that Thy Word take flesh in the womb of the blessed VirginMary at the message of the angel: grant us, we pray, to be aided before Thee by her intercession, whom we believe to be truly the Mother of God. Amen.

#FraAngelico

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

FRANZ LISZT’S VIA CRUCIS – Musical setting of the Stations of the Cross.
Experience the drama of Franz Liszt’s emotive ‘Via Crucis’ at St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne, 7.30pm Sunday 15 March 2026. This will be presented in the context of the Stations of the Cross.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@robbertleusink Destruction, disorder, disorientation. It continues in the "Holland of the South Pacific", New Zealand. Images show the decline of St Patrick's Basilica in South Dunedin.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

@nthntour18 Total fire ban here in Melbourne today! 35° and high winds. Thankfully I had some extra ash left over from last year's burn.

[Fr Nicholas Dillon @FrNDillon]

14 February 2026: 140th anniversary of the Dedication of St Joseph's Cathedral Dunedin.
Building the first part of the Cathedral designed by architect F.W. Petre was an extraordinary achievement by Bishop Patrick Moran and his small, poor flock. He wondered who would complete it.