What Does “Friar” Mean in the Bible?
Office or title
A man who leaves everything to follow Jesus in a religious order, like the Franciscans or the Dominicans.
It can mean
- “Fray”: a title used in Spanish before a friar’s name: Fray Junípero, Fray Bartolomé.
- Their vows: they promise God to live in chastity, poverty, and obedience, and they live in community.
- In the Bible: the first disciples left everything and followed Jesus.
Where it appears in the Bible
Luke 5:11; Matthew 19:29
What the Bible says
Luke 5:11
And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him.
Matthew 19:29
And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catechism 915 and 925