(Latin: table)
A table for meals, which meaning has been extended to signify the resources necessary for personal support. In ecclesiastical language, it is that portion of the property of a church which is set aside to defray the expenses of the prelate or the community which serves that church. In a cathedral, the episcopal mensa is distinct from that of the chapter. A mensa, in the canonical sense, requires that the property of a particular church be divided, setting aside the revenue of one part for the prelate or clergy, the other part being administered as ordinary church property.
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