The classical portico, with eight massive columns of the Roman Doric order, was added in the 1870s, under the direction of Bishop John Quinlan.

The subjects of the south wall windows are Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Presentation of Mary at the Temple, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of Jesus, and the Holy Family.

The Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, by John the Baptist is the subject of the window in the Reconciliation Room, under the north tower.

The window under the south tower, in the stairway to the choir loft, appropriately depicts St. Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.

[5][6] Over the course of time, the cathedral experienced its share of disasters, including an explosion, a fire, an airplane hit, and hurricanes.

Disaster struck on March 19, 1954, when a homeless man, seeking shelter in the church, caused a fire that destroyed the sanctuary.

The church still stood, but the interior suffered damage from fire, smoke, and water from the firefighters’ attempt to control the blaze.

After the 1954 fire, Bishop Thomas Joseph Toolen had the damaged stained glass windows sent to the Franz Meyer workshops in Munich for repair.

An interior overhaul, executed by Conrad Schmitt Studios, included a coffer ceiling above the main aisle.

The coffers are decorated with alternating gold-leafed fleur-de-lis and shamrock, symbolically representing the Trinity, as well as the contributions of the French and Irish religious to the life of the Archdiocese.

After the restoration was complete, Archbishop Lipscomb traveled to Rome with the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Louisville, Mobile and New Orleans as a part of the Bishops' Ad Liminia Conference of the United States of America.

At this meeting on December 3, 2004, he presented Pope John Paul II with a photograph of the completed work by Conrad Schmitt Studios.

Other basilica insignia include Pope John XXIII's personal coat-of-arms installed above the cathedral entrance, the yellow and red umbracullum (umbrella) and tintinnabulum (bell) in the sanctuary.