Ordination

1. The chapter shall be held several times a year, and only the president has the right to convene it.
2. The convening of the chapter must always be done publicly and in writing.
3. Before the chapter, capitulars may propose to the president matters to be discussed; if one-third of the chapter proposes some matter, the president is obliged to present it for discussion. During the chapter, no business may be proposed unless the president permits or invites it.
4. To avoid having to make an unexpected decision at a chapter, the voters should be informed about all matters for discussion, together and individually, at least one or two days before the chapter meets, provided there is no danger in delay.
5. When there is a question of admission to profession, at least half of those who have voting rights and reside habitually in the convent must always be present.
6. The president has power to determine what must be kept secret.

1. It is also for the chapter:
   1. to organise community life in so far as our laws permit in matters which in the judgement of the provincial chapter are to be determined by the convent;
   2. to deal with matters to do with the apostolate and the temporal administration of the convent which the chair regards as particularly important, without prejudice to the rights of the prior provincial.
2. 3. In order that the common life may be at the service of the apostolate and be enriched by the work of the brothers, every convent should develop its own program or project of apostolic life. The program, having been prepared and reviewed by all, must be approved by the prior provincial. In this way individual activity which is not permitted by the community nor by the prior provincial will be eliminated.
3. II. The provincial chapter shall decide what matters are to be determined by a decisive vote in the conventual chapter.

1. The chapter shall have a secretary, whom it elects in a single ballot. He shall enter an account of discussions and resolutions in a book set aside for that purpose.
2. If the prior wishes, he may from time to time and with the consent of the chapter invite professed brothers to attend and be heard without however their having a vote.

At the end of his term of office, a prior shall present a report on his administration according to the procedure laid down in the statute of the province.

1. A prior who is prevented by illness from properly fulfilling his duties shall resign from office if there is no hope of recovering his health within six months.
2. If he is unable or unwilling to indicate his willingness to resign, the subprior, having heard the views of the council, must submit the case to the prior provincial.

If the prior, the subprior, and the vicar are absent, the priest who is oldest in order of profession, who has active voting rights and is assigned to the convent, shall be accepted as vicar.

If he judges it opportune, a prior may appoint as his vicar any priest brother assigned to his convent who shall have whatever authority the prior gives him.

1. If it should happen that a prior’s three-year term of office is due to end within the three months which precede the holding of a provincial chapter or the election of a prior provincial, the prior’s authority is extended until the completion of the chapter, or if a prior provincial is elected outside a chapter, until the prior provincial takes office.
2. Where, for a just cause, it does not seem advisable to hold the election of a prior within a month after the office becomes vacant, the prior provincial, having consulted the chapter of the convent, may appoint the outgoing prior or the subprior in capite as his vicar to govern the convent for not longer than six months, unless within that six-month period a provincial chapter is to be held.

1. A prior should frequently preach the word of God to the brothers and offer the sacrifice of the Mass for them;
2. he should willingly seek the advice of the brothers, encourage them to be responsible, and foster the collaboration of all for the good of the community and the salvation of humankind.

Precepts cease to bind either by the passage of time or by the termination of the authority of the one imposing the precept.