As a convert to Orthodoxy and a canonical Orthodox priest with a blessing to celebrate the ancient Roman Liturgy, I am often struck by the sheer lack of regard that some Orthodox folks show toward these cultural roots. If Orthodox bishops and priests wish merely to be chaplains to immigrant communities from Eastern Europe or the Middle East, this is fine. Immigrant communities need to keep a strong remembrance of their ethnic and cultural identity so long as the living Christ remains its center.

But so do Western converts to Orthodoxy.

These converts often come into the fullness of the Christian life with coffers of gold gathered from their own rich heritages, heritages that reach back into a time when the West was fully Orthodox (and, on many accounts, Orthodox when the East was not). Even if entirely forgotten, vestiges of Orthodox Christian culture still rumble around the depths of the Western heart. https://orthodoxreflections.com/why-venerate-saints-of-the-west-and-reject-the-liturgies-they-celebrated/