friars, mendicant
(Latin: mendicare, to beg, ask alms)
Members of those religious orders which originally, by vow of poverty renounced all proprietorship individually and in common, relying for support on their own work and on charity. They did wonderful work, particularly among the very poor in the most wretched localities of the cities. The principal mendicant orders are:
Carmelites
Friars Minor
Hermits of Saint Augustine
Order of Preachers
New Catholic Dictionary