Every Great Lent, iEcclesia features weekly podcasts, covering a variety of topics related to this very important period of the Church year. These programs are designed to help the listener understand why we celebrate Great Lent, the weekly themes, and concluding with the importance of Holy Week and Pascha.

From the beginning of time, people have always gathered together for celebrations and business. For joys and sorrows. For worship and giving thanks. For the Christian, this is more than just a simple gathering or meeting place; rather, it’s a chance to connect with the Heavenly, the spiritual, with God Himself. Established by Jesus Christ Himself, the Church is more than just the great Cathedrals of Constantinople and the small caves of Rome; it is a place where the believer was (and still is) taken from this world to the next. Yet, if one fast forwards to today, some people would call it “old fashioned” or even “irrelevant”, while others hold on to it as a source of strength and salvation.

Our first podcast, on this 1^st Friday of Great Lent, talks about the Church – something more than just a building with a dome, a place filled with icons, or a room filled with pews and candles – but, the Church: the Ark of Salvation.

The program begins with a definition of the Church and what role we play in it and its importance in our lives. Next, our guest explains

how Traditional Orthodox Churches are designed in a certain way and how this design helps the average Orthodox Christian (and even

non-Orthodox Christian) in understanding the Church.

John Kapsalis

- A native of Montreal, Quebec

- Bachelor of Arts, Hellenic College (Boston, Massachusetts)

- Master of Theological Studies, Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology (Boston, Massachusetts)

- Professor of New Testament Studies, Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy