About St. Elizabeth · Bristol, Rhode Island
St. Elizabeth Parish (Paróquia de Santa Isabel) is a Roman Catholic parish in Bristol, Rhode Island, serving the East Bay community from its church at 577 Wood Street. Founded in 1913 to minister to the town's growing Portuguese community, the parish remains a bilingual English-Portuguese faith community within the Diocese of Providence. With roughly 1,800 parishioners, it celebrates Mass in both languages, runs a Faith Formation program, operates a food pantry through the Friends of St. Elizabeth (F.O.S.E.), and is anchored in long-standing devotional societies including the Holy Rosary Sodality, Santo Cristo, Holy Trinity, and Holy Ghost. The current pastor is Reverend Vander S. Martins, whose warm bilingual welcome greets visitors online and at the parish office.
- Established
- 1913
- Patron
- St. Elizabeth of Portugal
- Rector
- Reverend Vander S. Martins
- Diocese
- Diocese of Providence
Why belong here
St. Elizabeth is the historic Portuguese-American Catholic parish of Bristol and remains one of the few places on the East Bay where you can attend Mass in either English or Portuguese and feel equally at home. The parish combines everyday parish life — a faithful Mass schedule, confession Saturdays, RCIA, and a Food Pantry — with deep devotional traditions through societies like the Holy Rosary Sodality, Santo Cristo, Holy Trinity, and Holy Ghost, plus an active Faith Formation program for children and youth. It is a place where generations of the same families have worshipped, and where newcomers are welcomed in two languages under a pastor and staff who know the community by name.
Mass times at St. Elizabeth
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturdays 4:15 PM – 4:45 PM (before the Vigil Mass)
- Or by appointment through the parish office
About St. Elizabeth Parish
St. Elizabeth Parish is a Roman Catholic parish of the Diocese of Providence located at 577 Wood Street in Bristol, Rhode Island. Founded in 1913 to minister to Bristol's Portuguese Catholic immigrants, the parish remains a bilingual English-Portuguese faith community serving roughly 1,800 parishioners in the East Bay. The parish is named for St. Elizabeth of Portugal and is led today by Pastor Reverend Vander S. Martins, who greets visitors online in both English and Portuguese.
Parish History
The parish was established in 1913 when Bristol's growing Portuguese community — roughly 3,000 people working in factories like the United States Rubber Company — needed a Catholic parish where the priest spoke their language and understood their customs. The original church was built that year on Wood Street, designed by the Providence firm of Murphy, Hindle & Wright, the same architects who had designed Bristol's St. Mary's Church (1911) two years earlier. A large parish school building followed in 1951 to serve the expanding Portuguese-American community.
- Founded 1913 for Bristol's Portuguese Catholic residents
- Church designed by Murphy, Hindle & Wright of Providence
- Parish school building added 1951
- Golden Jubilee published 1964: 'St. Elizabeth Church: Golden Jubilee, 1913–1964; Bodas de Ouro'
- 100th anniversary celebrated 2013–2014 with a 13-foot parade float and centennial cookbook/keepsake
The Patron Saint — St. Elizabeth of Portugal
St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271–1336), also known as St. Elizabeth of Aragon, was a Portuguese queen known for her charity and peacemaking. Her feast day, July 4, coincides with Bristol's signature Independence Day celebration — a coincidence the parish has embraced, most visibly when a 2½-ton float bearing a replica of the original church rolled through the 2013 parade on the saint's feast day to mark the parish's centenary.
- Feast day: July 4
- Subject of the parish's Fourth of July parade floats
Faith Formation & Religious Education
The parish runs a Faith Formation program for children and youth with Family Catechesis and Youth Ministry components. The program publishes a calendar of classes and events, requires weekly Mass reflections from grades 1 & 2 and grades 7 & 8, and welcomes volunteers. Contact is via the dedicated Faith Formation email.
- Faith Formation Office: (401) 253-3501
- Email: [email protected]
- Director: Aurendina Veiga; Facilitator: Monica Soares Furtado
- Weekly Mass reflections required for Grades 1 & 2 and Grades 7 & 8
- Online Faith Formation Calendar published on the parish website
Music Ministry
Music at St. Elizabeth is led by a small team of directors and accompanists serving the parish's bilingual liturgy.
- Director: John Travers
- Organist: Joseph DeLemos
- Children's Choir: Kelly Botelho-Caton
Parish Societies & Devotions
St. Elizabeth's long-standing devotional societies are central to parish life and reflect the parish's Portuguese-American heritage. Each society has its own leadership and traditions.
- Holy Rosary Sodality — Pat Silvia, President
- Santo Cristo Society — Manuel Pereira, President
- Holy Ghost Society
- Holy Trinity Society — John Medeiros, President
- Prayer Group — Lorraine Sousa, Coordinator
- 25 Week Club — Oryann Lima, Coordinator
- Finance Council — John Rego, Chairman
- Friends of St. Elizabeth (F.O.S.E.) — Roger Blank, President
Outreach: Friends of St. Elizabeth (F.O.S.E.) & Food Pantry
The Friends of St. Elizabeth (F.O.S.E.) is the parish's principal outreach and assistance ministry, running a Food Pantry that has historically been open Monday evenings to serve neighbors in need. The parish also operates a Helpline and has, in past parish appeals, raised funds to assist families facing utility or rental hardships.
- Food Pantry (Mondays 5:30–6:30 PM — historically; consult parish for current status)
- Helpline: (401) 585-9889
- Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets delivered annually
- Citizenship and immigrant-assistance help for parishioners
Sacraments
The parish prepares parishioners for all seven sacraments. Baptism is celebrated on the first Sunday of the month; Confirmation during the spring liturgy; Marriage requires six months to one year of preparation; the Anointing of the Sick is available upon request; RCIA welcomes adults seeking initiation; and those discerning a vocation to the priesthood are referred to the diocesan Director of Vocations.
- Baptism — First Sundays at 1:30 PM
- Confirmation — celebrated in spring within the Eucharistic Liturgy
- Marriage — six months to one year of preparation recommended
- Anointing of the Sick — contact the parish office
- RCIA — for adults preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation
- Holy Orders — referral to Fr. Carl Fisette, Director of Vocations (401-331-1316)
Parish Staff & Leadership
St. Elizabeth's staff combines clergy, religious sisters, and lay administrators who together care for the parish's liturgical, administrative, and pastoral life. The staff listing also appears in a printable parish contacts PDF on the older parish site.
- Pastor: Reverend Vander S. Martins
- Pastoral Assistants: Sr. Hortense Amaral; Sr. Irene Escobar
- Bookkeeper: Charlene Andrade
- Secretary: Lisa Correia
- Custodian: Manuel Rodrigues
- Faith Formation Director: Aurendina Veiga
- Music Director: John Travers
Visiting the Parish
The church is open daily from 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM for private prayer. Visitors are asked to observe distancing, hand hygiene, and surface-contact guidelines (especially during COVID-era protocols). The parish office remains reachable by phone, mail, and email during the pandemic period. A printable contacts sheet with the Mass schedule, sacrament details, and staff listing is hosted on the older parish site at saintelizabethchurch.net.
- Address: 577 Wood Street, Bristol, RI 02809-2326
- Phone: (401) 253-8366; Fax: (401) 253-7695
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.stelizabethri.com
- Facebook Watch: parish Mass broadcasts via Facebook
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Reverend Richard A. Narcisothrough at least 2013–2014
Pastor who led the parish's 100th anniversary (centennial) celebrations in 2013–2014; named in the older parish contact sheet alongside Assistant Pastor Rev. Luis Garcia Dutra.
- Reverend Vander S. Martinscurrent
Current pastor, who extends a bilingual (English/Portuguese) welcome on the parish website. Per the Diocese of Providence's May 7, 2026 assignments, he is being reassigned to Pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish, East Providence effective July 1, 2026.