Friars Manuel Martinez, Rudolph Valenzuela and Louis Magdaleno were received into the novitiate of the Friars of the Sick Poor by Brother Richard Hirbe, founder and minister general.

The investiture and reception into the two-year novitiate was held at the Cardinal Manning House of Prayer for Priests Sept. 11 during the community's Annual Chapter.

Friar Martinez directs the Diaconate Program for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and has served regularly at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Friar Magdaleno teaches religion and reading at Our Lady of Victory School in Compton, and Friar Valenzuela is a nurse practitioner working among the uninsured.

The Friars of the Sick Poor of Los Angeles, founded on Dec. 12, 2002 as a diocesan community, work among the sick poor, assisting them to find redemptive meaning in their suffering and pain.

On June 5, Cardinal Mahony ordained the community's first priest, Father James Halley, who is chaplain at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood.