A provincial chapter must be celebrated in the following manner:

1. on the day designated for the commencement of the chapter, or on the previous day:
   1.  the testimonial letters shall be examined by the three voters senior in the Order: serious difficulties shall be referred to the chairman and voters of the chapter;
   2. after the voters have been approved, a secretary, – or two, if needed – shall be appointed by the chairman with the consent of the voters;
   3. the chairman and the voters shall form chapter commissions from among the voters;
   4. each commission shall elect its chairman in a single ballot and shall choose its secretary.
2. The chapter shall begin with the Mass of the Holy Spirit. In the prayer of the faithful after the homily, petitions shall be made for the successful outcome of the chapter, and for the living and the dead, mentioning by name those who have died in the Lord since the last chapter. 
3.  
   1. Among matters to be dealt with by the commissions are apostolic activity, the state of the province with regard to personnel, disciplinary and economic matters – all this as shown in the reports presented by different superiors as determined in the statute of the province;
   2. the conclusions of each commission, set down in writing, shall be made available in a suitable place so that they can be examined by all the voters before the plenary sessions;
   3. afterwards, under the direction of the chairman of the chapter, the plenary sessions of all the voters shall begin, and it will be the duty of the voters to decide which conclusions of the commissions are to be retained so that they can be defined by the diffinitors.
4. When all these things have been done, the chairman and the diffinitors shall decide whatever they judge to be necessary or useful; whatever has been rejected by a majority of the voters may not be defined by the diffinitors.
5. It also pertains to the diffinitory:
   1. to make admonitions, ordinations, declarations and petitions;
   2. to issue assignations, to fill offices or positions, and to attend to other matters in accordance with our laws.

The statute of the province determines:

1. whether to have preparatory commissions; 
2. the day on which the election of the prior provincial and the diffinitors of the chapter shall be held;
3. how many diffinitors of the chapter are to be elected, namely, four, six, or eight;
4. whether councillors of the province are to be elected, how many of them and when;
5. the day on which the elections for the general chapter shall be held.

When the letter of convocation has been received:

1. the election of delegates mentioned in n. 352, § I, 5, shall be held; and in convents having the right, the election of the socius or socii of the prior going to the chapter shall be held under the presidency of the subprior; further, an election shall be held for supplementary voters to provide for the situation referred to in n. 352, § II.
2. three months before the beginning of the chapter, the prior provincial shall send out a report on the state of the province and the more serious problems facing it; the officials of the province (see nn. 376-381) shall send to the capitulars and convents a report on all that is within their competence;
3. in every convent of the province a discussion shall be held under the presidency of the prior in which the reports described in n. 2 shall be examined, and proposals or petitions to be sent
   to the chapter to the benefit of the province or the convent shall be determined.

The chapter, which the voters shall not fail to attend, shall be convoked by the prior provincial or by the vicar of the province at least three months before it is to be held.

1. If, however, the provincial chapter is due to be held during the four months prior to a general chapter, counting from the first day of the month assigned in the acts for its celebration, the chapter shall be postponed until after the promulgation of the acts of the general chapter. It then falls to the Master of the Order to assign a date for the provincial chapter, after consulting the prior provincial.
2. A provincial chapter shall not be omitted even if a prior provincial has already been appointed.

When he absents himself from his province or, at least, the country, the prior provincial should appoint a vicar.
  If no vicar has been designated, the socius of the prior provincial becomes the vicar ipso facto unless the provincial chapter shall have determined otherwise.

1. The four-year term is calculated from one provincial chapter to another, disregarding the few days, weeks, or months by which, occasionally, the term falls short of or exceeds the four-year period; and it is terminated on the day immediately before the vigil of the commencement of the provincial chapter.
2. If it should happen that a prior provincial’s four-year term ends when the Order has no Master or that it ends within sex four months of a general chapter (see n. 354, § I), in either case it is understood that his term is extended until the following provincial chapter which will be held after the completion of the general chapter.

The prior provincial shall have a register in which he shall record his activities.

The prior provincial:

1. at the end of a visitation, shall convey to the brothers his observations and ordinations in writing;
2. After visitation he shall report to the Master of the Order, both on the brothers, whether "they are persevering in peace, assiduous in study, fervent in preaching,"1 and faithful in regular observance, and on the relationships between the province and the convents and the ecclesiastical authorities.
3. during the three months before leaving office, shall send a report on the state of the province to the Master of the Order, ensuring that it reaches him before the new election.

The prior provincial is obliged to visitate his entire province twice in four years – personally, if possible, or else by appointing another. He must, however, visitate the convents of the novitiate and the studentate each year.