Friar is a member of a Roman Catholic religious order that originated as a mendicant order. Members of these religious communities lived as beggars. The term friar comes from a Latin word meaning brother. Mendicant orders were founded for active ministry, such as preaching and missionary or social work. Friars are more mobile than members of monastic orders, who spend most of their time in monasteries. Friars live in houses called friaries.
The church first recognized mendicant orders in the early 1200’s. The orders multiplied rapidly until the second Council of Lyons (1274) suppressed all but four major ones. They were the Dominicans (called Black Friars or Preaching Friars), Franciscans (Gray Friars or Friars Minor), Carmelites (White Friars or Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel), and an order of Augustinians (Austin Friars or Hermits of St. Augustine). A few other lesser orders survived the suppression or were founded later. Mendicants originally renounced all possessions held in common and depended on alms (charity). However, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) authorized the orders to hold goods in common.
