Celestial Community

St. Martha Catholic Church started like many other religious institutions: with a gift. In 1911, Martha Burns asked her son, Owen, to donate two adjoining lots on Adelia Street for a Catholic church. Despite Owen Burns and his brothers being Episcopalian, he followed his mother’s wish, giving the lots as a gift in her honor. The church is named St. Martha after her patron saint.

Two years later, in February 1913, the first public Catholic Mass in Sarasota took place in a small, unnamed structure erected on the Adelia Street lots off present day Fruitville Road. In attendance were all the five Catholic families living in Sarasota.

Those families had no way of knowing that inaugural gathering would light the spiritual spark that has grown into a church of more than 4,000 parishioners. St. Martha is now the mother parish of more than a dozen Sarasota parishes.

“It’s a big extended family,” St. Martha Knights of Columbus Grand Knight Michael Deering says.
This month, the church celebrates its 100th year of service in Sarasota.

Humble beginnings
The spirit of St. Martha began in 1889, long before the Burns family’s donation. As a small mission of the Sacred Heart Church in Tampa, Diocese of St. Augustine, Jesuit pastors would make the trip south to Sarasota to perform baptisms, marriages and Masses once a month in the local Catholic families’ homes.

One year after the Burns family donated the land, the Rev. Aldred Latiolais, of Sacred Heart, and his fellow pastors began construction on the first Catholic church in Sarasota, which, when finished, held 100 people and featured 10 stained-glass windows — another gift from the Burns family.

The first public notice of Mass appeared in February 1913. Fourteen years later, the church became its own parish. The Rev. Charles L. Eslander held the parish’s inaugural Mass Oct. 1, 1927, to a packed church of 131 parishioners. Eslander, who was assigned as pastor for all Sarasota County parishes, remained pastor of St. Martha for the next 40 years.

In 1931, when the parish acquired an empty lot at the corner of Orange Avenue and Fruitville Road, it found itself in financial hardship; the hope of building a new church was stifled thanks to the Great Depression. But, four years later, with the church still seeking funds for the new building, a talented group of parishioners came to its aid. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus had moved its winter headquarters to Sarasota in 1927, and, in the process, the circus performers had become members of the congregation. To help raise funds for the building of the new church, the circus staged two shows on parish property.

Easter Sunday 1941 marked the day of the first Mass in the new church — the same brick building that stands today. The circus shows were so successful, they continued annually until 1941.

Beyond its walls
The current church holds about 400 people, but the parish’s reach goes well beyond the walls of the church building.

Since its founding 100 years ago, St. Martha parishioners have spread the sense of community within their church to the Sarasota community. The church currently offers two dozen parish ministries.

According to Louie Faustino, head of the parish’s Jail Ministry, the Rev. Fausto Stampiglia has had much to do with these efforts. Stampiglia was appointed pastor in 1991.

Part of Stampiglia’s early efforts included the ecumenical Thanksgiving service with Temple Emanu-El and Bahia Vista Mennonite Church, which took place from 1992 to 2006. Today, the Feast of Abraham, an ecumenical free meal that takes place in the spring, brings together local Christians, Jews and Muslims.

“Father Fausto has really been the moving sprit of getting such an active ministry,” says Faustino. “The beautiful things he does there … He’s busy moving the spirit behind it and the rest of us go along.”

Deering says the sense of an extended family at St. Martha and Stampiglia’s community-orientated missions make giving back to the community a part of a parishioner’s duty. The Knights deliver meals to the homeless and donate funds to many local charities. Last Thanksgiving, more than 650 local homeless men and women received a Thanksgiving meal.

Family ties
Stampiglia has played a special part in many of the lives of his parishioners.

“Father Fausto gave us our first family Bible a little more than 20 years ago,” parishioner Stacy Izzo says. Since then, Stampiglia has married Stacy and her husband, Anthony, as well as baptized their three children.

“(Father Fausto) has always been there for us in so many ways,” Izzo says. “He’s just a very good example for everybody… he’s all about family and, being Italian, we understand that.”

Stampiglia’s message of family and devotion keeps parishioners, such as Izzo and her family, returning.

“You definitely leave feeling good about yourself and that we are all on the same path together,” Izzo says.

As for Stampiglia, he says St. Martha’s family atmosphere is due to its parishioners.

“It is because the people are happy to be with God; that is why it feels like a family,” says Stampiglia.

The parish is preparing to celebrate its 100 years with a dinner gala Nov. 9, at Michael’s On East. The St. Martha family, now 4,000 parishioners strong, has grown up alongside the community it serves.

And, as for the church’s future, Stampiglia hopes to continue to serve his parishioners by leading by example — with his trademark good humor.

“A smiley priest means really smiley parishioners,” he says.

TIMELINE 
1913 First public Mass was conducted in the Adelia Street structure.
1927 The parish created its first ministry, the Council of Catholic Women.
1931 The parish bought a plot of land on Orange Avenue
for $5,500.
1941 The church held its first Mass in the new church.
1951 “The Greatest Show on Earth” reenacted the Rev. Charles Eslander’s annual blessing of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s circus train.
1950 The first wing of St. Martha’s School opened Nov. 15.
1974 The church was remodeled. Renovations included combining the three arches behind the altar into one and painting over the sky blue walls.
1984 St. Martha Parish was included in jurisdiction of new Diocese of Venice.
1993 The parish’s first two permanent deacons were ordained.

ORGAN OFFER
In 1991, the church received a special donation — a Walker organ. The organ, which was valued at $500,000, was handmade in England and reassembled at the church. The tracker organ features 3,000 pipes, some as small as 1 or 2 inches and some up to 12 feet.

SECOND HOME
Sarasota was like a second home for Beth Cannata — as was St. Martha Catholic Church. Cannata grew up spending winters in Sarasota with her family, and they would attend church together.

In 1991, Cannata moved from Farmsville, Ill., to Sarasota full time. Two of Cannata’s children attended St. Martha’s school, and Cannata is now head of the hospitality ministry at the church.

Cannata’s grandmother, Darlene Hendricks Fuchs, was also involved in the church. Cannata keeps two rosaries Fuchs made with the rosary-making ministry in a safe deposit box — one is sterling silver and the other is made of mother of pearl. Fuchs gave them to Cannata during one of Cannata’s visits as a little girl.

Contact Harriet Sokmensuer at [email protected]