In downtown Sarasota, St. Martha Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of Venice known for its Pallottine clergy, its English and Vietnamese worship, and its long connection to the Ringling circus. Rooted in a mission that began in 1889 and established as a parish in 1927, St. Martha serves about 2,000 families from its church on North Orange Avenue. Its story includes a frame mission church, the building of a larger sanctuary and Catholic school, care for circus performers and travelers, and ministries that reach beyond parish membership.
From Adelia Street Mission to an Established Parish
Sarasota's Catholic community first received regular visits from Jesuit priests from Tampa. In 1889, Bishop John Moore assigned the Jesuits responsibility for St. Louis Parish and a broad mission area that included this part of Florida. By 1911, Father Alfred Latiolais had accepted lots donated by Owen Burns, T.C. Callan and George McAlpine, and construction of a small frame church on Adelia Street began in 1912. A 1913 notice announced Mass on the first Tuesday after the second Sunday of each month. Attendance grew after World War I, and two Sunday Masses were added in 1921. When the Sarasota mission became a parish on October 1, 1927, Father Charles L. Elslander became its first resident pastor and the congregation numbered 132.
Father Elslander would serve for four decades while Sarasota grew. The parish bought the property at Orange Avenue and Third Street in 1930 for $5,500. After years of parish fundraising, the first Mass in the present church took place on Easter Sunday 1941, and the building was dedicated in February 1942. The first wing of St. Martha School opened in 1950 with 176 pupils and the Benedictine Sisters of Holy Name Priory as its first teachers. Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse and dedicated lay teachers later continued the school's work.
St. Martha moved from the Diocese of St. Augustine to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1968 and later to the Diocese of Venice. Father John P. Lawler expanded community activity during his pastorate, while Father Jerome A. Carosella oversaw a major renovation, the creation of a parish center and the start of new ministries. The two-story center, including the parish hall and courtyard, was dedicated in 1979. Father Fausto Stampiglia became the first Pallottine pastor in 1991, and Father George Suszko, also a Pallottine, became pastor in 2022.
The school moved to the McIntosh Road campus now known as Bishop Nevins Academy, which opened in 2002. The domed campus houses St. Martha Catholic School and the Dreams Are Free Institute for children with special learning needs. St. Anne's Hall connects the round pavilions and can accommodate 1,300 people for Mass or a large gathering. The parish also became known as the mother church of Sarasota County, with boundaries that extend from Sarasota Bay and the Manatee County line to Hyde Park Street and Lockwood Ridge Road.
Pallottine Faith Shaped by Service
Most of St. Martha's priests are members of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, commonly called the Pallottines. St. Vincent Pallotti founded the society in Rome in 1835 and was canonized in 1963. The parish describes Pallotti's characteristic mission as continually reviving faith, rekindling love and helping others do the same for the infinite glory of God. Fr. George Suszko, Fr. Gennadi Romachko and the retired Fr. Fausto Stampiglia belong to this tradition. Its emphasis on the union of the Catholic apostolate gives St. Martha a way to unite prayer, evangelization and service to people in need.
St. Martha's Catholic identity is expressed through sacramental worship, the proclamation of the Word, Reconciliation, prayer and service. The parish describes the Eucharist as the summit and source of Catholic family life. Its welcome to prospective members emphasizes the Body and Blood of Christ, forgiveness, communal support and ways to give life to faith. The invitation to share time and talent reflects the conviction that a parish functions best when its members participate in its life.
The parish calls itself a diverse community open to new spiritual gifts. Its history also shows a willingness to respond to changing populations: ministry to Spanish-speaking families began in the 1980s and eventually led to the establishment of St. Jude Parish, while the present Vietnamese community gathers for its noon Mass with a choir, youth group and numerous parish organizations. St. Martha herself is honored as a patron of hospitality and service to people who are hungry, poor, homeless or suffering. The parish also emphasizes unity and peace, describing those joined by the peace Jesus gives as peacemakers.
Mass in English and Vietnamese
Public worship follows a broad weekly rhythm at the Orange Avenue church and in the parish center:
- Saturday: Mass at 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., followed by Mass at 4:00 p.m. and the 5:30 p.m. Vigil Mass.
- Sunday in English: Mass at 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., noon and 5:30 p.m. The 9:00 a.m. Family Mass is celebrated in the Fr. Fausto Parish Center.
- Sunday in Vietnamese: a noon Mass in the Fr. Fausto Parish Hall.
- Monday through Friday: Mass at 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and noon.
- School Mass: 9:00 a.m. on school days at Bishop Nevins Academy in Deacon Wren Chapel.
The complete schedule is available through the parish's Mass schedule.
The worship is thoroughly sacramental and shaped by many hands. A weekend Mass can involve a celebrant, altar servers, cantor, lector, organist, ushers and Eucharistic ministers. The adult choir serves the 10:30 a.m. Sunday liturgy, cantors lead singing at the Saturday Vigil and other Sunday Masses, the children's choir participates at the 9:00 a.m. Family Mass, and the Vietnamese choir provides music for the noon community. Music and liturgy are therefore visible parts of the parish's life, not simply background to the Masses.
St. Martha is at 200 N. Orange Avenue, just west of the Orange Avenue and Fruitville Road intersection. From I-75, travelers take Exit 210 and travel west on Fruitville Road for approximately seven miles, where the church is on the left. Parking is available behind the church on Second Street and across Fruitville Road. The church is handicapped accessible, special seating is available and a ramp serves the south side of the building. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a lunch closure from noon to 12:30 p.m., and can be reached at (941) 366-4210.
Reconciliation is offered in the courtyard Reconciliation Room on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. and on Saturday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. The Carosella Chapel provides a quiet place for prayer during office hours, with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 9:00 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Thursday. The parish also celebrates a weekly Mass for people confined to Sarasota County Jail.
Children and Families Begin at the 9:00 a.m. Mass
St. Martha's Sunday Religious Education Program welcomes students from kindergarten through grade 12. The program runs from mid-September through the beginning of May. Children first join their families at the 9:00 a.m. Family Mass in the Fr. Fausto Parish Center, then attend classes from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. on the second floor of the parish building. Registration is required each year, and students must be registered parishioners. The arrangement keeps classroom learning connected to the family's shared participation in the liturgy.
Youth Ministry serves students in grades 6 through 12 with monthly meetings from September through May. Its schedule combines service and social activity rather than limiting the ministry to classroom instruction. Young people in fourth grade and older may also become altar servers, a ministry open to boys and girls. Older server groups, including the Patriarch Apostolate, have assumed responsibility for altar service at Masses and funerals.
Catechesis for the sacraments follows a clear age-based path. Baptism requires a class and an application to the Director of Religious Education. Confirmation is a two-year process beginning in ninth grade and ending with the reception of the sacrament at the close of tenth grade. Second-grade students prepare for Reconciliation and First Holy Eucharist through classroom instruction and family catechesis sessions. Students in grades 3 through 8 who attend St. Martha religious education or Catholic school may also prepare through additional sacramental classes.
Marriage preparation begins at least eight months before the wedding and requires an active registered parish membership for one year. Couples who belong to another parish may marry at St. Martha with their pastor's permission. The process includes submitting preliminary information, meeting with clergy, completing the Witness to Love program and choosing music with Music Director Thomas Varas. Weekday weddings may be arranged, while Saturday ceremonies are scheduled for 11:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. The church's music policy reserves musical decisions for the Music Director.
Adult Faith Formation is rooted in conversion, reconciliation, prayer, obedience to God's will and growth in love for others. The parish's earlier RENEW program led to groups that discussed Scripture and shared personal experience of faith. It also helped begin a ministry for mothers, a bereavement group and a newcomers' group that invited newly registered parishioners to meet after Mass. These ministries reflect a conviction that faith formation includes both learning and the sharing of one's life with others.
The Circus Years That Built the Church
The Ringling Circus had its winter quarters at Oriente Street and Fruitville Road within St. Martha's boundaries. Father Elslander's concern for circus personnel impressed circus executive John Ringling North, who asked him to bless the circus train each spring as it left Sarasota. The blessing became an annual parish tradition and one of the clearest links between St. Martha and the Sarasota circus community.
The circus also gave its time and talent to the church. Beginning in 1935, Ringling staged performances on parish property for the benefit of the new church fund, with the final series held in 1941 just after the Orange Avenue church was completed. Thousands attended, and on some days more than two-thirds of those present were not Catholic. Proceeds helped make the new building possible, while the circus also loaned performers, musicians and other resources. The relationship led St. Martha to become known as the United States Circus Church, and sacraments administered to traveling circus workers around the country were recorded there.
The Circus and Traveling Show Ministry continues that history. Circus clergy, religious and lay ministers gather at St. Martha for an annual meeting, and a dedicated circus chaplain ministers to performers and workers who travel with shows. The current chaplain is Rev. Frank Cancro. The parish grounds once served as a circus lot, and the remains of that chapter can still be seen in the painted wagon wheels behind the altar, the large crucifix over the sanctuary and memories preserved throughout the parish.
A Sanctuary Filled with Art and Memory
A major renovation in the 1970s reconfigured the sanctuary according to the direction of the Second Vatican Council. The altar and ambo were moved closer to the congregation, pews were arranged on three sides and the choir was placed behind the altar. A new balcony with tiered seating for 140 people was added. In 1989, a red oak two-manual tracker pipe organ built by J.W. Walker and Sons of Suffolk, England was installed. The instrument was designed and constructed over more than a year and reassembled by Walker personnel.
The stained glass is another defining feature of the church. Windows made by the K.J. Mueller Studio of Zephyrhills, Florida in 1941 contain finely painted pieces and were included in a 1994 state historical stained glass survey. The evangelists appear in the Eucharist Chapel and Baptistry, while other windows depict the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation, Finding in the Temple, Holy Family, Gethsemane, Christ teaching, the Miracle at Cana and the Good Shepherd. The west wall above the balcony depicts St. Martha.
Other sacred art reflects the hands of local artists and religious. The Stations of the Cross were painted in oil on wood by Ben Stahl. The Holy Family statue was designed by Rambusch Studios in New York and carved by a northern Italian artist. Father Anthony Pastucci painted the Eucharist Chapel scene about 1988, while Tatiana McKinney painted the Baptistry image around 1986. In the courtyard, an Our Lady of Guadalupe mosaic made from Venetian glass tile recognizes the parish's Hispanic heritage. The Carosella Chapel provides a more intimate place for prayer, while the Monsignor Elslander Memorial Rose Garden allows registered parishioners to have cremated ashes interred in the courtyard.
Care That Extends Beyond the Parish
Caritas is one of St. Martha's principal outreach ministries and a joint effort involving St. Martha, First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Church of the Redeemer and First United Methodist Church. Volunteers interview people seeking help, coordinate emergency assistance and contribute to the Caritas Pantry at First Baptist Church on Main Street. St. Martha's own ministry is supported by donations collected at Caritas Sunday on the first Sunday of each month, and volunteers are welcome at the pantry.
The Jail Ministry provides spiritual care for men and women incarcerated at Sarasota County Jail. Priests and deacons celebrate Mass weekly, while trained lay ministers share the Word with incarcerated people, their families, victims and justice-system workers. All participants are screened and trained by the Sheriff's Department. The parish also cares for people beyond its church doors through the hospital chaplaincy, nursing home and assisted living facility Masses, homebound ministry and care of shut-ins.
That wider ministry has deep roots in Sarasota. During the pastorate of Father John P. Lawler, the parish school cafeteria became the kitchen for Community Mobile Meals, where volunteers prepared as many as 1,300 meals each week for delivery. Two volunteer-staffed medical clinics served about 1,500 adults and 1,500 children annually until the county assumed responsibility. The parish also sponsored the 78-unit Casa Santa Marta apartment complex for older residents in 1982 and expanded the housing ministry with 54 additional units in the mid-1990s. The Rose Garden and Carosella Chapel were likewise created as parts of the parish's ministry to death, remembrance and prayer.
The Respect Life Ministry follows Catholic traditions of prayer, education, pastoral care and legislative advocacy on issues including the beginning and end of life and capital punishment. Its pregnancy resources include My Choice Pregnancy Center, Care Net Manasota Pregnancy Center, SOLVE Maternity Homes and Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center. Other ministries bring people together in practical service: the Hospitality Ministry hosts parish functions, the Arimathean Ministry attends Funeral and Memorial Masses as representatives of the faith community, and Council of Catholic Women members support, educate and organize the ministry of women in the parish.
A Parish Family with Many Ways to Serve
St. Martha's ministries extend well beyond the official sacramental roles. Altar servers assist at Mass; lectors proclaim the Word; extraordinary ministers of the Holy Eucharist distribute Communion; ushers and greeters welcome worshippers; the Legion of Mary and Rosary Makers lead prayer; and musicians provide choral and instrumental service. The Council of Catholic Women coordinates parish ministries and develops leadership, while the Pastoral Council advises the pastor on pastoral issues. The Vietnamese community maintains its own choir, youth group, parish organizations and programs for sacraments.
St. Martha welcomes people who live in Sarasota seasonally as well as year-round residents to register as parishioners. Its history includes more than 2,900 families and 4,500 parishioners at one point, but the church now describes its present ministry as serving about 2,000 families. Tours of the parish are available by appointment through the parish office. Parish registration is handled through the parish's online registration form, and prospective members can identify sacraments already received and begin learning where they fit into parish life.
Financial support comes almost entirely through donations, which the parish says remain in St. Martha to support its work with families and people in poverty. Online giving is available through the parish's secure giving service. Donors may also give appreciated stock, retirement account distributions, life insurance or real estate. Legacy gifts can include bequests, insurance policies, retirement accounts, financial accounts, charitable gift annuities and trusts, with legacy gifts reserved for the parish's long-term financial health. The diocesan Catholic Faith Appeal also supports Catholic education, faith formation and programs serving poor and marginalized people.
St. Martha's identity remains concrete: Mass in English and Vietnamese, a school and parish family formation program, a sanctuary shaped by mission and circus history, and service carried through Caritas, the jail ministry, hospitality teams and care for people throughout Sarasota. At St. Martha, faith is celebrated in the sacraments, proclaimed in the Word, lived in community and carried outward into the city.