Mendicant
The Mendicant, or Begging, Orders are religious orders called so because of their custom of depending directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood, in order to spend all their time and energy on preaching the Gospel and serving the poor.
In the Middle Ages, the four original mendicant orders of friars in the Catholic church were the Order of Preachers, the Friars Minor, the Carmelites, and the Hermits of St. Augustine. The Franciscan, Dominican and Servite orders were also mendicant.
