Religious sisters, brothers and monks have given their entire lives to God, and their prayer and work strengthen the whole Church, what Catholics call the Mystical Body of Christ. These are the communities around Los Angeles. Visit, pray with them, volunteer, or come and see whether this life is for you.
Benedictine monks in the high desert who pray the Divine Office together five times a day, from Vigils at 6 AM to Compline at 7:30 PM, and guests are welcome at all of it. The retreat house takes private retreatants, mostly on weekdays, and meals are shared with the monks. A separate youth retreat center hosts parish, college and young adult groups.
Sisters who join Carmelite prayer with work in schools, retreats and care for the elderly across Southern California. They hold discernment retreats in Alhambra for single Catholic women aged 20 to 30. Volunteers help at the retreat house, at Marycrest Manor in Culver City and at Santa Teresita in Duarte.
Next discernment retreat: October 15 to 18, 2026, in Alhambra
Franciscan friars have lived at the Mission since it was founded in 1786, and the province sends its novices here for their first year. Visitors can tour the church, cemetery, gardens and museum, or come to Mass with St. Barbara Parish in the Mission church. The friars also run an outreach center for people in need with the Daughters of Charity.
Jesuit priests and brothers have run this Boyle Heights parish since 1980, with a school, small faith groups and neighborhood clean-ups and peace walks. Sunday Masses are mostly in Spanish, with English at 9 AM. Volunteers complete safeguarding forms, fingerprinting and VIRTUS training before they start.
The Western Dominican friars serve St. Dominic's in Eagle Rock. Visitors can come for weekend Mass, confession on Saturday afternoons, or adoration on Fridays. Men thinking seriously about the Order can spend a Come and See weekend living with the brothers.
Next Come and See weekend: October 9 to 11, 2026. Ask the friars where it is held.
Friars who give their lives to Jesus in the poorest, taking Matthew 25 as their rule: whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me. They sum up their life as "Jesus our all, all for Jesus", and live it in community, prayer and service to people in need.
Franciscan sisters, founded in Brazil in 2001, whose life is centered on Jesus Christ, prayer, community, evangelization and love for the poor. They serve people facing homelessness, addiction, poverty and prison through street ministry, retreats, works of mercy and walking alongside people one by one.
Come and See visits for women 18 to 35 can be arranged at their Los Angeles house
More than sixty priests and forty seminarians of the Norbertine order, founded by St. Norbert in 1121, living a common life of liturgical prayer, teaching and service in the canyons of Orange County. Anyone can pray with them: Sunday Mass at 7 and 9 AM, a sung Latin Mass in the Norbertine rite at noon, and Vespers every day at 5 PM. Young Adult Evenings at the Abbey, for ages 21 to 35, run from Vespers to Compline a few Saturdays a year.
Next Young Adult Evening: Saturday, October 3, 5 to 8:30 PM, $30
Sisters whose mission is to bring the Gospel through media: books, music, film and the arts. Their Los Angeles home on Sepulveda Boulevard in Culver City is a book center with a chapel where Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament, open for prayer during store hours, and the base of Pauline Media Studies. They hold retreats, talks and book signings there through the year.
Next Come and See Day Retreat in Los Angeles: October 10, 2026, for single Catholic women 18 to 30
Priests and brothers who follow St. John Bosco in working with young people, especially kids who are poor or at risk, through schools, parishes, youth centers and camps. In Los Angeles they run a youth center on East 4th Street and serve three parishes, including St. Mary and St. Isabel.
Sisters, associates and partners working in healthcare, education, immigration, prison and housing ministries, with a strong focus on justice for migrants and care for the earth. Women who want to explore joining begin with an inquiry period of prayer days, retreats and community gatherings.
The sisters are moving this fall from Carondelet Center in Brentwood to Villa Carondelet near downtown.
Know a community that should be here? Tell us.