If you could, what changes if any would you make to the Ordinary Form?

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I would add the rest of the saints back into the confiteor, as well as back to the Lord’s prayer embolism and the blessing of incense at the offertory. After the confession, there should be an option for an exorcism of the church, using an abbreviated version of the prayer approved by Pope Leo XIII with holy water. This is a really good idea today in order to purify the church building and surrounding world. Allowing commemorations using another collect, prayer over the offerings, and postcommunion, or at least the collect. Making the form of the prayer of the faithful more fixed, such as using a shortened form of the bidding prayer from Good Friday, having the announcements before mass, or maybe during the offering or afterwards, as in some traditions. I would require the offertory and communion verses to be said or sung even if there is a hymn substitute, and have the deacon touch the chalice while it is offered as a symbol of his role, and to show that the people also participate in the offering. I would restore the Roman epiclesis in the offertory as well as the private prayers during the ablutions, and probably at least part of the lavabo psalm. Eucharistic prayer 2 should be rewritten to include more of the original Hyppolitan canon, which was more traditional, and an option allowed as in the earlier church for the celebrant to compose his own eucharistic prayer (This is probably not a good option at this time because of the state of religious education), or at least for the bishop or bishops’ conferences to have their own approved. I would have the words of consecration in the Roman Canon the same as the original, with the mystery of faith included in them, and the bread part shortened. The mysterium in the other prayers would be at the same place as currently, and with different introductory words for each, as it was in Canada, so the people know which to say, and I would also reinclude the “Christ has died…” American acclamation as part of the universal Roman rite as an option. They standardized the words of institution across all the EP’s I think to reduce mistakes, but since these words are supposed to be said slowly and carefully and thoughtfully, this should be no problem. The sign of peace would be required whenever a deacon or concelebrants are there, and on high festivals, but would be the traditional Roman “kiss” of peace, which is a sort of bowing over the shoulder between members of the same gender. This would be at the traditional Roman place, since it emphasizes that since the Lord of Love has come down to the altar, we must have peace and love with our fellow humans, which in no way distracts from the purpose of the Eucharist, since that is one of its purposes. A blessing at communion for people not receiving would be officially included in the missal, or the option for holy bread to be blessed and distributed to them (antidoron or pain benit) which was used in the Roman rite until recently at many places.
 
2nd part.

The EMHC’s (if there are any; there should be more deacons, maybe subdeacons, priests and acolytes distributing communion normally) could give the blessing too, even though blessings are normally from superiors to inferiors. It could be justified with the example of the reply of the reapers to Boaz. At the end of mass, the prayer for acceptance of the sacrifice (placeat tibi) would be reinserted, probably changed to plural and recited by all, with the conclusion omitted and the celebrant saying alone at the end “… and may almighty God bless you, etc.” In general, at least some of the gestures and ceremonies from the EF should be returned to the new rite also, such as raising hands at Gloria and Creed, bowing at certain bits (“we worship you”, etc.) and kneeling for certain parts of the scripture readings, such as during the Epiphany gospel, which would help to focus our attention on the readings better and support an atmosphere of reverence. Finally, the “occasional services” such as consecration of the church, marriage, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, holy week, etc. would be supplemented with most of the material and ceremonies from the tridentine rite, somewhat simplified or abbreviated, and the EF restored to the full ceremonies in their entirety, pre 1955 (triple candlestick for the Easter vigil, etc.). Things such as the use of maniples and birettas, folded chasubles, bishops’ triple vestments, etc. should be explicitly allowed in the OF, but only as optional. Incense would be required for high feasts, except for extraordinary pre-approved circumstances.
 
@giuseppe96 , I recall being at Mass in college in the mid 1960s when a pupil after receiving Holy Communion took the host out of his mouth to desecrate it in the classroom afterwards .

I wouldn’t make any changes , but I would encourage something which is now permissible . I would encourage more use of the silent periods when silence is permitted .
 
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In no particular order:
  1. Eliminate communion in the hand and bring back altar rails.
  2. Ad orientem
  3. Personally, I really don’t like the sign of peace and find it very distracting.
  4. I don’t like hand holding or laity doing the orans pose during the Our Father. Notice we don’t do this during any other prayer of the mass.
  5. I feel like we should be kneeling during the Agnus Dei.
  6. More use of sacral languages, i.e. using Greek for the Kyrie and Latin for the Agnus Dei.
  7. Priests should be wearing proper vestments, this includes the amice and chasuble.
  8. No announcements during the mass.
  9. NO EPII ON SUNDAYS, EPII is fine for a daily mass but Sunday mass should be EPI.
 
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If anyone is ever in Portland, Oregon, go to Holy Rosary parish and check out their OF. I was blown away by how awesome it was.

Ad orientem
The canon was chanted in English.
The Gloria and Creed were chanted in Latin
Communion at the rail
No sign of peace for the laity
Solid homily with a strong message

I told a priest after Mass how impressed I was, and he said he thought this is what V2 had in mind when they changed the Mass. It was absolutely beautiful.
 
I would improve my abandonment to it and to all forms of the Holy Mass.

The change or improvement needs to come from within.
 
I’m sure these things have already been said but here’s what I would do.

Have Mass said ad orientem and in Latin.
Reinstate the prayers at the foot of the altar and the Leonine prayers (with a different intention probably).
 
Outright ban holding hands during the Our Father and also ban the use of Orans position: We shouldn’t be mimicking the gestures of the priest.
 
Of course I forgot, communion rails would be nice.
Sign of peace should be replaced with the kiss of peace.
 
Well that cuts me out as I speak and understand no Latin and have no capacity to learn. If that were implemented I’d be effectively barred from going to Mass.
 
Without making any changes to the existing rubrics, using only currently available options, this is my ideal OF:
-Ad Orientem or at minimum Benedictine altar arrangement
-All propers and the preface chanted in English plainchant
-Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei in Latin polyphony
-lots of incense
 
I don’t enjoy the OF (at my local parish) but that doesn’t bar me from attending.

My Latin is very basic, but I can follow the translation in the missal.
 
There’s a BIG difference between merely not enjoying something and completely not understanding something to the point of being totally lost. And no, the 1962 missal doesn’t help at all. Me at a Latin Mass is someone who can neither contribute nor get anything out of; so there’s no point in me being there.
 
Ok well I’m sorry you feel that way.

I have attended the OF in non English speaking countries (Mass was in Spanish, French, Hindi, Thai, Romanian …) I didn’t feel totally lost because I recognized the movements of the priest.

Some of these were “better” than they are here in the UK, in my own opinion.
 
Even in the OF Mass I rely entirely on verbal cues. That’s possible in English. It’s not in other languages. I would not be attending Mass in a non-English speaking country.
 
I wouldn’t change anything. I’d just focus on making it more beautiful. The answer isn’t which direction the priest faces, whether there are altar rails, or not. At our concelebrated abbey Mass, the music is beautiful (Latin Gregorian propers and Latin/Greek Ordinary, the rest in French plainchant), standing and in the hand is normative for communion (but other postures are allowed), there is no communion rail (just a cloister barrier) and Mass is celebrated versus populum (with 20 or so priests concelebrating, it wouldn’t work any other way with the church’s layout). The result is a gorgeous liturgy that flows with liquid fluidity, and is deeply reverent.

Rubrics can be followed to a T but the Mass still flow poorly. It can be all in Gregorian chant, but the chant awful. It can be without any “liturgical abuse”, but the celebrant is irreverent or careless.

All of these things happened prior to the Council, and they happen after the Council.

I’ve been to quiet, 7 am weekday spoken Masses that were done with simplicity and reverence and that made my day, and Sunday Masses at the abbey that are very beautiful. Both extremes have their place, and the secret is not necessarily what is done, it’s how it’s done. Reverence is a question of attitude, not position.
 
Haven’t read the whole thread; apologies if I’m mention things already mentioned. These are a mix of things that are currently permitted in the O.F. but are rarely done so and things that are currently only permitted in the E.F.
  • Bring back the distinction between Low Mass and Sung Mass/Solemn High Mass.
  • With that being done, require that all High Masses (both Cantata and Solemnis) be chanted whenever the priest’s parts are to be audible. This should include the readings (and if they are to be read by the laity then they need to chant them as well). This is especially the case for the Canon.
  • Bring back the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar.
  • More liberal use of the Asperges/Vidi Aquam before Mass.
  • Bring back the Leonine Prayers after Mass.
  • Extend the use of these Leonine Prayers after all Masses not just Low Mass (we need them more now than ever!) and extend this practice to the E.F. as well.
  • Bring back the Offertory (No, what we have today in the O.F. is not an Offertory proper), and use the old Offertory prayers.
  • No more communion in the hand. In the case of reception of the Precious Blood start using intinction so that the laity don’t touch the chalice. This is actually one area where I’d like to see “mutual enrichment” going the other way into the E.F.
  • Make EMHCs extraordinary again.
  • Get rid of the other Eucharistic Prayers. Roman Canon only.
  • Bring back all of the Minor Orders and give preference to instituted lectors over lay readers and instituted acolytes over altar servers.
  • If the readings are to be read by the celebrant priest or deacon at a Low Mass or Missa Cantata have them do so at the altar instead of the ambo. If it is a Missa Solemnis then do so as they’re done in the E.F. (Lesson/Epistle chanted toward the altar by the subdeacon, Gospel chanted toward liturgical north from the nave by the deacon.) If the readings are to be read by an instituted lector have them done so at the ambo. If they are to be read by laity they should be done so from the nave at a freestanding podium, not in the choir.
  • Ad orientem, ad orientem, ad orientem! (ad septemtrionem for the Gospel).
  • More use of proper liturgical languages (in our case, Latin) for the Mass Ordinary. It should be mandatory that the Canon be chanted in Latin.
  • Cease allowing for the transferring of holy days to the following Sunday.
  • Bring back the General Roman Calendar of 1960 in terms of the Seasonal feasts while keeping the modern one in terms of saints days.
 
While we’re at it, this is what I’d change in the E.F.
  • Allow vernacular translations of all the Propers and most of the Ordinary (with a strong recommendation to keep the Ordinary in Latin), while still requiring the Canon be in Latin.
  • Allow for the use of lay readers (with the same rules as mentioned above) while still granting preference to the ordained.
  • Streamline both calendars to come up with one single Calendar for the Roman Rite. I’m not beholden to 1960 per se so this could be accomplished by simply mandating the use of the General Roman Calendar of 1969 in terms of saints’ feasts while keeping the seasonal calendar of 1960.
  • Allow for the Kiss of Peace among the faithful.
  • Allow for the Prayers of the Faithful.
  • Allow for communion under both species, but through intinction only.
 
You would still have an obligation to attend Mass if travelling in a non-English speaking country on a Sunday. It’s not always about what you “get” out of it. You can still offer worship to God, uniting yourself to the sacrifice you know is being offered.
 
twf said:
You can still offer worship to God, uniting yourself to the sacrifice you know is being offered.
Click to expand...
And that you can see is being offered. Christ is really and truly present regardless of the language!
 
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