When I mentioned I’d be heading to Omaha, people kept urging me to visit the Holy Family Shrine in nearby Gretna, Neb.

This features an unusual chapel built a few years ago. My schedule didn’t allow me to stray far from downtown Omaha, however, so a visit to the shrine wasn’t an option.

“Well, there’s always St. Cecilia’s,” someone said, in a tone broadly hinting this was clearly second best. After stopping in at the Archdiocese of Omaha’s cathedral, I can’t begin to fathom why it hasn’t gotten more acclaim.

Sitting in the middle of

40th Street

, a busy north-south feeder road in north-central Omaha, St. Cecilia blends in with the bustling neighborhood — yet commands attention. The white limestone structure, started in 1906, is designed in the Spanish Renaissance tradition, even though most cathedrals built during that era were Gothic Revival. But Thomas Kimball, the preeminent Nebraskan architect who designed the building, felt America’s push toward the south and west should show in the cathedral’s architecture. He was also intent on reflecting the influence of the Spaniards who first settled the area.

Kimball, who considered St. Cecilia’s his crowning achievement, specifically patterned the cathedral after El Escorial, a high palace and Hieronymite monastery northwest of Madrid. He incorporated its soaring twin bell towers and Doric triple arcade over the three main entrance ways, each of which contains a window opening.

Stepping inside St. Cecilia’s, which underwent a full interior restoration in 1999, you’re startled by an explosion of color. The apsidal dome over the high altar is painted in terra cotta, yellow ocher and blue, and highlighted by gold leaf rosettes. Its red tones match the Spanish marble on the apse wall. The ceilings in the ambulatories, or side aisles, are painted a rich blue; this is sprinkled with gold designs, reminding you of the heavens.

Meanwhile, 10 brightly colored faux mosaic commemorative shields, created for the restoration, command your attention. Each shield depicts an important event in the history of the Catholic Church in Nebraska. And then there are the 50-plus stained-glass windows, namely the “singing windows.”

St. Cecilia — feast: Nov. 22 — is the patron saint of music and musicians. And so, in her honor, eight immense windows light the nave depicting such hymns as the “Magnificat,” Mary’s hymn of praise to God for her part in the incarnation of Christ, the “Te Deum Laudamus,” a hymn of Thanksgiving, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” and “Victimae Paschali Laudes,” an Easter hymn meaning, “To the Paschal Victim, let Christians offer a sacrifice of praise.”

Mary of the Corn

Because of this profusion of color, the rather simple high altar, crafted out of white Carrara marble with a bronze crucifix, stands in dignified, stark contrast. Similarly, the sanctuary imparts a subdued sense of grace. Encircled by intricately carved oak wainscoting, it features a cathedra (bishop’s chair) and statues of 11 apostles in niches along the curved apse wall.

Make sure you turn around and look at the organ. Installed in 2003, it was one of only four “dual-temperament” organs in the world. Dual-temperament organs have two tuning systems — mean tone tuning, which was popular in the Renaissance and Baroque periods before Bach, and well-tempered or equal-tempered tuning, which became popular after Bach and is the tuning system we’re familiar with today. By incorporating both systems, the organ allows music to be played as it was written to sound.

Song School

If you’re part of a formal tour, or attending Mass, you’ll be able to walk through the ambulatory behind the sanctuary, where there’s an impressive $3 million collection of Spanish Colonial art. It’s considered perhaps the finest such collection between Denver and Chicago.

Made possible entirely through private donations, the collection is meant to encourage private devotional prayer by pilgrims. A few pieces from the collection are also displayed in the Nash Chapel, the only private mortuary chapel within the cathedral.

Make sure to peek into the Our Lady of Nebraska Chapel off the north entrance. The simple chapel features a beautiful marble altar statue, Madonna of Corn. In the sculpture, Mary cradles a stalk and ear of corn in her hands. The figure symbolizes her concern for the material and spiritual well-being of Nebraskans.

Although the cathedral itself is quite impressive, St. Cecilia’s offers visitors much more than meets the eye. Tucked behind the cathedral on the east side is an unassuming building adorned with a cross and small, gray letters that say “The Cultural Center.” Opened three years ago on the main floor, it contains a small sacred-art gallery, along with a very well-done museum on the cathedral’s history and rectors. The museum also contains the best collection of Thomas Kimball memorabilia.

As this is the only cathedral in North America dedicated to the patron saint of music and musicians, it’s only fitting that St. Cecilia’s is also home to the Schola Cantorum. Latin for “school for those who sing,” the Schola Cantorum consists of a children’s choir school, the Institute of Sacred Music and a diocesan Music Ministry Association.

Choir schools have been associated with cathedrals since the time of Pope Gregory in the sixth century. St. Cecilia’s Schola Cantorum, formed in 2000, promotes musical liturgy throughout the diocese, partners with universities and schools to present innovative programs for the preparation of church musicians, and helps pastors and parish musicians, among many other activities — which include popular public concerts.

On this site, Colossians 3:16 is a lived reality: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

Melanie Radzicki McManus writes from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Planning Your Visit

St. Cecilia’s always sings some form of the Liturgy of the Hours, the daily prayer of the Church. St. Cecilia’s has sung vespers Sundays at 7 p.m., the Magnificat Treble Choir sings evening prayer Wednesdays at 5:15 p.m.; and the St. Cecilia Cathedral Choir sings night prayer at the end of its rehearsals Wednesdays at 8:50 p.m. For a Mass schedule and other information, visit stceciliacathedral.org or call (402) 551-2313.

Getting There

St. Cecilia Cathedral is located at

701 N. 40th St.

, a 15-minute drive from Omaha’s Eppley Airport. From the airport, turn left onto

Abbott Drive

, which eventually turns into

Cuming Street

, then left onto North 40th. St. Cecilia’s is on the left.