AMBIGUOUS OR NON EXISTENT RUBRICS; REASON NUMBER 7,777,777 AS TO WHY THERE NEEDS TO BE A REFORM OF THE REFORM OF THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS

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As I have written in the past, I love the Ordinary Form of the Mass when celebrated properly. However, I recognize the reason for it not being celebrated properly is because the General Instruction as well as the rubrics for the Ordinary Form Mass are weak, ambiguous and allow for great diversity from priest to priest based upon his interpretation of these rules and is own pious practices some of which are dubious.

Let's just take a few examples.

1. How wide does the priest hold his arms for the "Orans" position? The EF was very sober and specific about this, but not so in the OF's rubrics. A priest can do almost anything, from looking like he is being "held up" which as a legitimate liturgical reason, to making his arms appear to be the horizontal beam of the cross with his body the vertical beam. Or something in between the various extremes. But it really depends on the priest and his likes and dislikes, no?

2. To cover the chalice with a pall, veil and burse for the corporal cloth. Heck, let's just do what feels good there.

3. The use of the pall during Mass to cover the chalice; heck have it available if a fly, wasp or honey bee is flying about or a cloud of dust comes rolling in from the desert.

4. The rubrics tell the priest to "show" the consecrated Host and then the chalice of Precious Blood after their consecration. But how high? How low? How long? Your guess and the practice you see is as good as the rest.

5. How about at the doxology, how high, low or medium should the chalice and host be "raised" above the altar and is it to show to the people or to acknowledge the sacrifice offering of Christ to the Father which the Father is pleased to accept?

6. What about the personal piety of the priest? Can he say in an audible way, "My Lord and My God.." at the consecrations? Of course if he did it ad orientem who would know. He could have the most pious, saccharine look on his face and no one would know the difference.

The Ordinary Form of the Mass falls victim to the subjective interpretation of the GIRM and rubics of the Mass by the priest and that has caused all the problems in the world with the OF Mass and the battle cry from so many for the reform of the reform of the Ordinary Form of the Mass.