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How did Franciscan friars support themselves without owning possessions?

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Bonaventura Berlinghieri: St. Francis and Scenes from His Life — St. Francis of Assisi *St. Francis and Scenes from His Life*, tempera on panel by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, 1235; in the Church of San Francesco, Pescia, Italy.

Under the original rule established by St. Francis of Assisi, Franciscan friars were committed to a life of total poverty, owning no possessions either individually or as a community.1

To support themselves, the friars were intended to live by the work of their hands. When they could not earn a livelihood through their own labor, they were permitted to beg for food. A critical aspect of this practice was that they were strictly forbidden from accepting money, whether as payment for their work or as alms.21

As the order expanded and many friars became devoted to spiritual ministrations, it became increasingly difficult to sustain the community through manual labor alone. Consequently, begging eventually played a larger role in their daily sustenance than St. Francis had originally envisioned. Maintaining this ideal of absolute poverty proved challenging over time, leading to internal debates and various reform movements within the order regarding the extent to which communal property could be held.21