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.
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.
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
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.
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