Benton

And that kind of thing would become more likely if the pre-conciliar use were to become the default, rather than in the care of communities that are self-selected to desire the proper ars celebranda for it.

When it does, it’s not because of the rite, but, generally, of people not following the rite. In your discussion, you should at least be aware of the fact that you take a behavioral approach. One aspect is that the prescriptive nature of liturgical instructions (rubrics tell you what to do) is mixed up with a proscriptive interpretation (if it isn’t forbidden by the rubrics, it’s allowed). This isn’t evoked by the current Missal, but a result of a divergence that hasn’t been corrected thoroughly.

A most excellent point and well received.

@Benton

Any priest who feels so inclined could choose to not follow the rubrics of the ‘62 or ‘55 missal. He could choose to celebrate versus populum.

The TLM is celebrated ad orientem, in a number of Roman basilica's the TLM has always been celebrated on the high Altar ad orientem and also ad populum.

So it is not wrong to celebrate the TLM ad populum.

With the very strong rubrics that leave no room for novelties, and de Defectibus, the TLM Missal is not easily messed around with. This is a feature not a bug.

The premise is that the Novus Ordo does not belong to the Church anymore ( or maybe never did) but belongs solely to the priest.[...] If he fell over dead tomorrow, the diocese could send another priest that might not carry the same stylistic points. Thus, the parish is at the mercy of the priest at the moment.

So, two thoughts.

One, as correctly pointed out above, that's largely a not-following-the-rite problem. It's not inherent to the NO, but it's certainly facilitated by it by the sheer number of options permitted even within the scope of licit and normal.

Second, I'll share my experience in my NO parish, because we have two priests (a pastor and a parochial vicar), and it's vastly different experiences.

I'll preface this by saying I've always gone to NO parishes, but have gone to TLM a handful of times when the opportunity has arisen. Otherwise, my nearest TLM is 2.5 hours away, so I just go to my local parish. I don't think I've gone to TLM twice with the same priest, but the experience has been quite uniform every time I've gone.

So, our parochial vicar is a fairly new priest, having been ordained in the past 5-6ish years. Like the majority of the recent ordinations in our diocese, he's not super young, having come to the priesthood after already having another career (IDK if that makes a difference or not - my experience has been that these men have lived a "normal" life for years before entering seminary, and it's gives them a different outlook from those experiences IMO).

I adore when Fr. Parochial Vicar is saying Mass. He is so careful, so reverent, so by-the-book. It's beautiful. He consistently says the Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon), his homilies are relatively short but very to-the-point and always makes me think about what he has to say. He is meticulous about the rubrics, so careful with the hosts (and so incredibly aware of each crumb and fragment of those hosts), and spends a great deal of his time in prayer and contemplation, yet is very approachable and friendly and easy to talk to - he always has time for us. He takes his time to get the important things right. You get the sense of the sacred when it's "his" Mass. He's also highly predictable - as a musician, I know exactly what to expect in tone, text, and process, precisely because he's so wedded to the rubrics and will consistently do the same options.

Contrast that to Fr. Pastor. While I get that he's much busier, being the leader of our parish and involved with other things at the diocesan level, his Masses are more... I'm not sure if "rushed" is the right word here, but there's definitely a forward momentum that drags you along. Everything is always the shortest version possible, he's always moving, and there's very much a sense of having to "get this done". Don't misinterpret me - I also love Fr. Pastor. He is a good and holy man and a very wise priest and I'm thankful for his energy and presence. But Mass is a *very* different experience with him. As a musician, it's sometimes difficult to keep up with him, in the sense that you're never sure if he's going to follow the rubrics exactly, or he will spontaneously want you to play/sing something specific, you're never sure of the order of things (this is especially true for funerals), so you have to be on your toes. If he has three choices, he may do three different things in three different Masses (then again, maybe not - you never know).

Would we have the same contrast with the TLM? Perhaps. Fr. Pastor's perpetual energy and need to move on to the next task would be there, so I imagine that sense of urgency would still be present. But there couldn't be shortcuts, or resequencing or any of the other things that tend to give me headaches. Fr. Parochial Vicar would still be careful and reverent as ever. But the core of the Mass would be identical. As it is, right now, they are very different Masses between the two priests, so yes, in that sense, the NO "belongs to the priest", and not the people.