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under Urban II (1088-99). The pope himself is re- ported to have composed this Preface and to have sung it first at the >Synod of Guastalla in 1094. The Prefaces form a medium between the unchanging Or- dinary and the variable Proper of the Mass. They vary so little that they are printed in the Ordinary, first with their solemn chants, then with the ferial chants, and lastly without notes for Low Mass. The appendix of the new (Vatican) Missal gives a third "more solemn" chant for each, merely a more ornate form of the solemn chant, to be used ad libitum. Otherwise the solemn chant is to be used for semi- doubles and all days above that, the simple chant for simples, ferias, and requiems. The Preface is chosen according to the usual rule for all proper parts of the Mass. If the feast has one, that is used ; otherwise one takes that of the octave or season. All days that do not fall under one of these classes have the common Preface, except that Sundays that have no special Preface have that of the Holy Trinity (so the decree of Clement XIII, 3 Jan., 1759). Requiems have the common Preface, as also votive Masses, unless these latter come under a category that has a proper one (e. g., of the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Ghost, etc.). Votive Masses of the Blessed Sacrament, like Corpus Christi, have the Christmas Preface. There are other exten- sions of use (the Preface of the Holy Cross for the Sa- cred Heart, etc.), all of which are noted in the Propers of the Missal and in the Calendar.

At High Mass after the last Secret the celebrant at the middle of the altar, resting his hands on it, sings: "Per omnia sscula sa?culorum" etc.; the choir an- swers each versicle. He lifts up the hands at " Sursum corda"; at "Gratias agamus" he joins them, and at "Deo nostro" looks up and then bows. At "Vere dig- num" he lifts the hands again and so sings the Preface through. After "dicentes" he joins them and bowing says the Sanctus in a low voice, while the choir sings it. The deacon and subdeacon stand in line behind him all the time, bow with him at the words "Deo nostro ", and come to either side to say the Sanctus with him. At Low Mass all is said, the server answering the dia- logue at the beginning.

Briqhtman, Eastern Liturgies (Oxford, 1896) : Feltoe, Sacra- mentarium Leonianum (Cambridge, 1896) ; Wilson, The Gelasian Sacramentary (Oxford, 1894); Sacramenium Gregorianum and Ordines Romani in P. L., LXXVIII ; Gibr, Das heilige Messopfer (Freiburg, 1897), pp. 513-524; Rietschel, Lehrbnch der Liturgik, 1 (Berlin, 1900), 378-380; Le ViVASSEtm, Manuel de Liturgie, I (Paris, 1910), 297-298; 467-168.

Adrian Fortescue.

Prefect Apostolic (Lat. prcefeclus, one put over or in charge of something). During the last few centuries it has been the practice of the Holy See to govern either through prefects Apostolic, or through vicars Apostolic (q. v), many of the territories where no dioceses with resident bishops exist. These territories are called respectively pre- fectures Apostolic and vicariates Apostolic. This had been done by the Holy See when, owing to local circumstances, such as the character and cus- toms of the people, the hostility of the civil powers and the like, it was doubtful whether an episcopal see could oe permanently established. The es- tablishing of a mere prefecture Apostolic in a place supposes that the Church has attained there only a small development. A fuller development leads to the foundation of a vicariate Apostolic, i. e., the intermediate stage between a prefecture and a diocese. A prefect Apostolic is of lower rank than a vicar; his powers are more hmited, nor has he, as a rule, the episcopal character, as is ordinarily the case with a vicar Apostolic. The duties of a prefect Apostolic consist in directing the work of the mission entrusted to his care; his powers are in general those necessarily connected with the ordinary ad- ministration of such an office, as, for instance, the assigning of missionaries, the making of regulations

for the good management of the affairs of his mis- sion, and the like. Moreover, he has extraordinary faculties for several cases reserved otherwise to the Apostolic See, such as, for instance, absolutions from censures, dispensations from matrimonial im- pediments. He has also the faculty of consecrat- ing chahces, patens, and portable altars, and some prefects Apostolic have the power to administer Confirmation. The prefects Apostolic we have described so far have independent territories and are subject only to the Holy See. Sometimes, when a vicariate or a diocese extends over a very large territory, in which the Catholic population is un- equally distributed, the Holy See places a portion of such territory in charge of a prefect ApostoUc; in which case the faculties of the prefect are more limited, and in the exercise of his office he depends on the vicar Apostolic or the bishop, whose consent he needs for the exercise of many of his functions, and to whose supervision his administration is subject. With a view to still better protecting the authority of the local vicar Apostolic or bishop, it was proposed in the Vatican Council to abolish this second class of prefects Apostolic having jurisdic- tion over districts within the limits of a vicariate or diocese of the Latin Rite; but the existing order remained unchanged owing to the interruption of that Council. As to the same class of prefects Apostolic within the limits of territories subject to Oriental Churches, Leo XIII abolished them by a Decree of the Propaganda (12 Sept., 1896), and sub- stituted superiors with special dependence on the delegates Apostolic (q. v.) of the respective places. There are (1911) 66 prefectures Apostofic: Europe, 5; Asia, 17; North America, 3; South America, 11; Africa, 23; Oceania, 7.

Ba.art, The Roman Court (New York), nn. 357-8; Bomx, De curia Tomana (Paris, 1880), 648; Collectanea S. Congr. de Prop. Fide (Rome, 1893), nn. 15, 24.3-60; Gerarchia cattolica (Rome, 1911); PuTZEH. Comment, in facult. aposl. (New York, 1898), n. 245; ScHNEEMANN, Coll. Loccnsis. VII (Freiburg, 1870-90), 684. 693; ZiTELU, Apparat. jur. eccl. (Rome, 18S8), 138.

Hector Papi.

Prelate, real, the incumbent of a prelature, i.e., of an ecclesiastical office with special and stable jurisdiction in foro exlerno and with special prece- dence over other ecclesiastical offices; or, honorary, with distinctions of this ecclesiastical dignity without the corresponding office. The original prelates are the bishops as possessors of jurisdiction over the members of the Church based on Di\'ine institution. Apart from the bishops, the real prelates include: (1) those who have quasi-episcopal, independent jurisdiction over a special territory separated from the territory of a diocese (prcelnlus nuUius, sc. diaceseos), as is the case with the abbeys :in(l provostships of monasteries (Monte Cassino, Einsiedt'ln, St. Maurice in the Can- ton of Wallis, etc.); (2) those who have offices in the administration of dioceses, and enjoy an independent and proper jurisdiction (e.g., the earlier archdeacons, the provosts and deans of cathedral and collegiate churches, in so far as these still exercise a regular, per- sonal jurisdiction; (3) abbots and provosts of mon- asteries, even when they administer no territory with episcopal powers, but have merely the permanent, supreme distinction of the monastery; (4) titular bishops, both those who in the vicariates Apo.stolic and other territories have supreme ecclesiastical ad- ministration, and those who have simply received epis- copal consecration without jurisdiction over a special district, such as certain officials in Rome, consecrating bishops, etc.; (5) the highest officials of the Roman offices, who, in addition to the cardinals, have a prom- inent share in the direction of the Roman Church, and thus have a special relation to the person of the pope. In consequence of the extent of the government of the