1. If any Province or Vice Province for a period of three years to the norm of n. 253 or n. 257 § I does not fulfill the conditions requisite, the General Chapter or Master of the Order consulting with his council may declare it hardly large enough to enjoy the rights of the Province or Vice Province, saving always the right to participate in a General Chapter already convoked. If, for a period of three years, a province does not have three convents or thirty-five voters assigned in that province and habitually living there, the Master of the Order, having consulted his council, shall declare that it no longer enjoys the right to take part in general chapters as a province and shall reduce it to a vice-province in accordance with n. 257, unless a general chapter has already been convoked.
2. This declaration having been published, if the Province fulfills the requisite conditions by the norm of n. 257 § I, it would enjoy the rights and is bound to the obligations of a Vice Province. Otherwise the Master of the Order in and over this Province or Vice Province msy institute a vicar (cf. n. 400) for four years, who would have all the requisite conditions for a Prior Provincial, and rules this entity according to the norms established by the Master of the Order. This declaration having been published, if the Province fulfills the requisite conditions by the norm of n. 257 § I, it would enjoy the rights and is bound to the obligations of a Vice Province. Otherwise the Master of the Order in and over this Province or Vice Province msy institute a vicar (cf. n. 400) for four years, who would have all the requisite conditions for a Prior Provincial, and rules this entity according to the norms established by the Master of the Order.
3. If afterwards the Province or Vice Province about which in § I fulfills the requisite conditions by the norm of n. 257 § I, the General Chapter or Master of the Order with the consent of his council may declare it to enjoy the rights of a Vice Province and to be bound to its obligations.
4. In regions where, because of adverse circumstances, a provincial chapter cannot be held, the Master of the Order, with the consent of his council, may provide for its equitable representation at the general chapter.

1. For the union of two entities (provinces, vice-provinces or vicariates) the following are required:
   1. the vote of the council of each entity with respect to the mutual negotiations to be worked out about the union;
   2. consultation of the brethren and the chapters of all the convents and houses in the same entities, to be conducted in a way worked out in the individual entities;
   3. a special statute, approved by the Master of the Order, providing for a meeting for the chapter of each entity, enabling the entities to vote whether the union is to be proposed to the Master of the Order; and providing also for the first assembly ad instar capituli of the new entity;
   4. the decision of the Master of the Order with his council; the first superior of the new entity is appointed by the Master of the Order.
2. The union of two entities and the union or fusion of several entities should be done in the way described in § I, making the appropriate changes.
3. If a province is to be divided, the procedures to be followed shall be worked out by the provincial council and approved by the Master of the Order with his council. (B, n. 254)

1. Student priests living outside the studentate are to be introduced gradually to the priestly life and apostolate through appropriate conferences and activities. This is the responsibility of the prior or another father priest designated by the prior provincial.
2. They are, however, always under the authority of the prior with due provision for the rights of the regent in matters of study.

Priests in temporary vows are to remain in the studentate for at least three years under the guidance of the master so that they may be confirmed in the Dominican spirit, and in the  observance of regular discipline. If the prior provincial with his council so decides, they may live elsewhere under the guidance of another father priest.

1. Preaching is a shared work, the responsibility of the entire community; that is why in the tradition of our Order a convent is often called a ‘holy preaching.’
2. The cooperator brothers take part in the community apostolate not only by providing for the needs of the convent but also by a ministry properly so-called, either working with their priest brothers or exercising their own talents in the apostolate.
3. The superior and the brothers should together reflect on the common task of preaching and make it their own, so that the whole community may become responsible. However, the right of the superior to make final decisions and accept particular ministries remains intact.
4. In fraternal gatherings the brothers should discuss their apostolic experiences and problems, studying them to- gether and joining forces in special groups in order to exercise a more effective ministry.

1. In every convent strictly so called, the conventual Mass shall be celebrated weekly for the deceased mentioned above. The Prayer of the Faithful with petitions for the dead shall be included. Where, however, the conventual Mass cannot be said (see n. 61, § II) one Mass shall be offered for the dead.
2. The following weeks are excluded: Holy Week, Easter Week, the week in which Christmas falls; also excluded are weeks during which an anniversary Mass (n. 70, § II), Mass for a deceased brother (n.73) or for a pope (n. 74) are celebrated.
3. A third part of the rosary shall be recited weekly by all the brothers for the deceased mentioned above.

1. The brothers are to worship Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist so that they may derive an increase of faith, hope and charity from such a wonderful exchange .
2. The brothers ought to cherish the Order’s traditional devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, Queen of the Apostles. She is an example of meditation on the words of Christ, and of acceptance of one’s mission.
   The brothers should recite daily a third part five decades of the rosary in common or in private, according to the decision of the provincial chapter, preserving an appropriate relationship to the liturgy. This form of prayer leads us to the contemplation of the mystery of salvation in which the Virgin Mary is intimately associated with the work of her Son.
3. The brothers should foster the cult of St. Dominic and true devotion to him, the mirror of our life, and to the saints of the Order so that they may be moved to imitate them and be strengthened in the spirit of their vocation.

When brothers have an official position or work permanently in institutions, projects, or other establishments of this kind which do not belong to convents or provinces of the Order, the prior provincial should ensure that a contract be drawn up in which all the conditions are clearly set out.

1. In convents where only one socius is to be elected, the election is held according to the manner indicated in § IV, 2, and n. 452.
2. In convents where several socii are to be elected (see n. 490, § II), a secret vote must be cast to determine whether they are to be elected all together or one after the other.
3. If the majority agree, there can be a discussion about the candidates before the election.
4. The election is to take place as follows:
   1. if the socii are elected all together, the election is to be terminated in the seventh ballot, in which a relative majority suffices;
   2. if they are elected one after the other and if by the third ballot no candidate has been given a clear majority of votes, in the fourth and last ballot the candidates are reduced to two: those who have received the most votes in the previous ballot, with due regard for n 450, §III.

1. Regarding the confirmation or cassation of the election of a vicar provincial and his acceptance, the norms in nn. 465-473 are to be observed.
2. The right of instituting a vicar provincial devolves to the prior provincial, respecting n. 373,1°:
   1. when the vicariate, at the time of a vacancy of the provincial vicar, does not have the conditions referred to in n. 384 §I; then, however, in the institution of a vicar, the vocals of the convents of the vicariate should be heard according to the norm of the vicariate statutes;
   2. when all the vocals have renounced their voices they should not be restored by the prior provincial;
   3. when, for whatever reason whatsoever within six months from a known vacancy, the vicar provincial has not been elected or postulated;
   4. when in the process of an election in a special gathering there have been seven unsuccessful ballots (cf. n. 480, §II, 2°);
   5. when in the process of an election by letters there have resulted two unsuccessful ballots (cf. n. 480 §IV, 2°), or three or four if the provincial chapter has so determined (cf. n. 455-bis §II, 7°);
   6. when the brethren, the first election having been cassated, elect the same brother again, unless the first election was cassated just because of procedure and not because of the person elected;
   7. when two or at most three elections have been taken and confirmed by the prior provincial but not accepted by the one elected; then, indeed, after the second election the prior provincial may, and after the third ought to appoint a vicar provincial.
3. If the prior provincial does not appoint a vicar provincial within a month of his being informed that it falls to him to do so, the right of providing for a vicar provincial devolves to the Master of the Order.