Monday 9th February 2026
Today we commemorate:
Holy Martyr Nicephoros of Antioch (c.257). Hieromartyrs Marcellus, bishop of Sicily, Philagrius, bishop of Cyprus, and Pancratius, bishop of Taormina (1st C). Holy Hieromartyr Peter, bishop of Damascus (743). Uncovering of the relics of St. Innocent, 1st bishop of Irkutsk (1805).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Teilo, bishop of Llandaff and Llandeilo Fawr (6th C). St. Eingan, hermit at Llanengan (6th C). St. Cuaran the Wise (c.8th C). St. Cronan the Wise (8th C). St. Alto of Altomuenster (760).
1 John 2:18-3:8; Mark 11:1-11
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
1 John 2:18-3:8
Brothers and sisters, it is the final hour and in accordance with what you heard, that the Antichrist is coming, many antichrists have indeed now arisen. This is how we know that it is the final hour. They went out from us but they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would have stayed with us. It was so that they might all be revealed as being not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know everything. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? It is the Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. All who deny the Son do not have the Father either. You then are to let what you heard from the beginning live in you. If what you heard from the beginning lives in you, you will also live in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise he announced to us: life eternal. I write these things to you concerning those who are leading you astray. But for you, the anointing you received from him lives in you and you have no need of anyone to teach you. And since the same anointing teaches you about everything, and is true and is not false, then you will live in him just as it has taught you. And now, little children, go on living in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be shamed by him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practises righteousness is born of him. See what love the Father has given us so that we may be called children of God. The reason that the world does not know you is because it did not know him. Beloved, we are now children of God, though what we shall be is yet to be revealed. But we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin breaks the law, for sin is lawlessness. You know that he himself was revealed to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. No one who lives in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or known him. Little children, let no one lead you astray. Those doing what is right are righteous, just as he is righteous. Those committing sin are from the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. It is for this that the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.
Mark 11:1-11
At that time, as they approached Jerusalem at Bethsphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of his disciples. He told them, ‘Go to the village directly opposite, and as soon as you enter it you will find a foal tied up upon which no one has sat. Untie it and bring it, and if anyone asks you why you are doing this, say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.”’ They went off and found the foal tied up outside a door at the street corner. They were untying it when some of those standing there asked them, ‘What are you doing, untying the foal?’ They replied as Jesus had said, and they let them go. They brought the foal to Jesus, threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. While many spread their cloaks on the road, others were cutting down flat fronds from the trees and spreading them on the road. Both those going on ahead and those following were calling out, crying, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is our father David’s Kingdom that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!’ Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. He looked around at everything, and as it was already late he left for Bethany with the Twelve.