Any priest using the Mozarabic Mass today has to-- if I understand correctly-- use the gutted Novus Ordo form.
That's what I've heard, too. I was told that someone with little knowledge of liturgics would hardly see any difference between the Mozarabic NOM and the Roman NOM.
Well, this is true for two reasons. If you compare an old Hispanic Mass to an old Roman Mass (I mean 500 years ago, not 50 years ago), you would see little practical difference, although the music and certain gestures would be rather different. (Liturgically, however, this is because what are standard parts of the Roman canon are variable in the Hispanic.)
As to today, this depends ultimately on how it is performed. According to the ritual instructions given by Rome in 2000 in response to questions, even what direction the priest faces is up for debate. (
http://personales.ya.com/mrgreyes/ermita/iglesias/igl-alt-doc.htm) Some of the "Mozarabic Masses" have all sorts of Novus Ordo items, such as female lectors, spoken readings, the use of modern vestments, et cetera.
The preparatory prayers in both the Roman and Hispanic NOM have been basically removed, as well as other prepatory elements, such as the offertory blessings.
So, yes, that's very true. As someone raised in the NO Church before my conversion to Orthodoxy, rediscovery of the Western rites years later, and virtually exclusive use of the Hispanic ritual for the past few years, I can only say that there is a world of difference. Eastern Orthodox who see these modern "Western rites" are being cheated, especially the converts, and when they complain that the "Orthodox Western Rite" is nothing more than corrected modern forms, we know quite well their complaint is justified.
This is why our Synod has extremely strict rules concerning our usages. We are keenly aware of offering "a stone for bread" to the Orthodox of any ritual background. And the people know, when they see what we do, that same Orthodox spirit offered in a different form, but one that is not alien, but gives life and hope.
