Lay brother

In the most common usage, lay brothers are those members of Catholic religious orders occupied primarily with manual labor and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary. They have been known, in various places and at various times, as fratres conversi, laici barbati, illiterati, or idiotæ, and, though members of their respective orders, are entirely distinct from the choir monks, who are devoted mainly to the Opus Dei ("The Work of God") and to study.

See also

• :Category:Christian monasticism, :Category:Roman Catholic Orders and Societies