St Patrick's Basilica in

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

(opened in 1894) is a

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and was the architect Francis Petre's first departure from the Gothic style exemplified in his

St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin St Joseph's Cathedral is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunedin (''Dioecesis Dunedinensis''). It is located in City Rise in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It serves as the seat of the bishop of the Latin Church Roman Catholic ...

St Patrick's Basilica, Dunedin, NZ, exterior

The Basilica

The exterior is incomplete and is "only a shadow of what the architect intended", but the impressive interior is completely realised. With St Patrick's Basilica, Petre turned to the

Palladian Revival Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style with which he is most associated. The interior in contrast to the earlier neo-Gothic style of the cathedral, is richly embellished with classical detailing. Its single greatest feature is the deeply embossed High Renaissance ceiling, a feature which occurs in many variations in Petre's later work, most notably in

St Patrick's Basilica, Oamaru The St Patrick's Basilica or Oamaru Basilica, as it is popularly known because of its style of architecture,In Roman Catholic ecclesiastical terms, St Patrick's Basilica is not a Minor basilica. See:List of minor basilicas in the world./ref> is ...

(ceiling installed in 1898) and Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington (1901). In many respects St Patrick's Basilica foreshadows Petre's Wellington cathedral (the other Petre church most like St Patrick's Basilica), the

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (popularly known as the Christchurch Basilica) was a Catholic cathedral located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and s ...

(1905), and the last of his major churches, Sacred Heart Basilica, Timaru (1911).

Features

The interior features a large

arcaded An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or Pier (architecture), piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. The walkway may be lined with retail s ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

forming a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

with two side aisles and a large arch forming the entrance to the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

. Walls are built in a succession of arches surmounted by a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

of stone which forms part of the roofs of the aisles. Series of stone

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

are ranged against the walls and on the sides of piers. The style of the capitals of the pilasters is Corinthian. The Basilica has retained its high altar (behind a modern one installed for the post-Vatican II liturgy) and features many fine statues. The 14 great stained glass windows (made by F X Zettler in Munich and purchased through H Credington & Co, Melbourne) represent the mysteries of the Rosary with one (the third sorrowful mystery, " The Crowning with Thorns") omitted. The Sanctuary is dominated by a large oil painting by Giuseppi Brazi of

St Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

and St Brigid interceding with Our Blessed Lady and her Divine Son. The

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

, which are of terracotta and framed in oak, were made in Paris in 1901. Thomas Heffernan and his wife Margaret were significant funders of the church and they are notably memorialised in one of the windows.

Devotion

St Patricks is known as a centre of Catholic devotion in Dunedin. "I was only in the parish a few days when I realised the great number of people who came in prayer on their way to work, on their way home, on their way shopping, on their way to pick up children at school." L A Boyle, Bishop of Dunedin, ''St Patrick's Basilica Centennial 1894-1994'', p. 3. This devotion was accentuated (especially in the 1950s-1970s''St Patrick's Basilica Centennial 1894-1994'', p. 33.) by the

Novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pen ...

in honour of Our Lady. This was held every Saturday night at 7.00pm and consisted of prayers, hymns, a short

homily A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...

, the reading of petitions placed in the box at the shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, some thanksgivings and finally Benediction. "Large numbers came to the novena, from all over the city. They filled the seats and stood in the aisles and porch. The devotion was followed with great numbers flocking to the four

confessionals A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but simil ...

, where the priests remained for lengthy periods." The novena was so popular that a special bus provided transport for those in outlying parishes who wished to attend.Jeff Dillon, "Novena, nostalgia, and a nosh-up in South Dunedin", ''NZ Catholic'', November 3–16, 2019, p. 17.

Anniversary

St Patrick's 125th anniversary was celebrated in October 2019 over a weekend. Over 500 people attend a combined Sunday Mass con-celebrated by Bishop Michael Dooley and Bishop Paul Martin followed by a shared lunch outside in fine weather to enjoy food, friendship, music and a bouncy castle for the children. At the commencement on the Friday night, current parishioner Jo Bell organised a replica set of novena celebration which 130 people attended. On the Saturday night, Sean Brosnahan, a curator at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, gave a presentation on the history of the basilica. He noted that the early history of St Patrick's was influenced by the diversity of population in the South Dunedin "flats" area and the particular concentration of Catholic Irish people there. He spoke also of two important figures in the history of the church. These were prosperous roading contractor and important contributor to the church, Thomas Heffernan, and Francis Petre, St Patrick's Basilica's architect.

References

External links

* (description with photographs) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin 1878 establishments in New Zealand Religious organizations established in 1878 Francis Petre church buildings 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in New Zealand Roman Catholic churches completed in 1894 1894 in New Zealand Basilica churches in New Zealand Palladian Revival architecture Listed churches in New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in Otago 1890s churches in New Zealand Churches in Dunedin