Editing Mendicant (section)

{{Short description|Person who relies primarily on alms}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2019}}
[[File:50番繁多寺前で托鉢する遍路P1010122.jpg|thumb|right|A Japanese Buddhist pilgrim on alms round (during [[Shikoku Pilgrimage]] in Shikoku, Japan)]]

A '''mendicant''' (from {{langx|la|mendicans}}, "begging") is one who practices '''mendicancy''', relying chiefly or exclusively on [[alms]] to survive. In principle, [[Mendicant orders|mendicant religious orders]] own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many instances members have taken a [[vow of poverty]], in order that all their time and energy could be expended on practicing their respective faith, [[missionary|preaching]] and serving [[society]].

Mendicancy is a form of [[asceticism]], especially in [[Western Christianity]]. In [[Eastern Christianity]], some ascetics are referred to as [[Fools for Christ]], whereby they spurn the convention of society in pursuit of living a more wholly Christian life.