Daily Readings | Christ the Savior Orthodox Church

February 8, 2026

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

No Fast

Commemorations

Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates • Holy Prophet Zechariah (6th c. BC) • St Sabbas II, Archbishop of Serbia (1271)

Mark 16.1-8

¹ When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. ² Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” ⁴ for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back. ⁵ Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. ⁶ He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him! ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’” ⁸ They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.

1 Corinthians 6.12-20

¹² “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. ¹³ “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵ Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! ¹⁶ Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”6:16 Genesis 2:24 ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Luke 15.11-32

¹¹ He said, “A certain man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ So he divided his livelihood between them. ¹³ Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. ¹⁴ When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He wanted to fill his belly with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. ¹⁹ I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ “He arose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. ²¹ The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate. ²⁵ “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the servants to him and asked what was going on. ²⁷ He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and begged him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”

Great-Martyr Theodore Stratelates ("the General") of Heraclea (319)

He was a renowned commander in the Imperial army, and dwelt in Heraclea of Pontus. The Emperor Licinius heard of Theodore’s fame as an officer, and also that he was a devout Christian; the Emperor determined to visit the general, officially to honor him, but secretly to turn him from Christ.

When the Emperor came to Heraclea, Saint Theodore met him with all honor, and the Emperor in turn praised him for his service to the state. Licinius then publicly bade Theodore make sacrifice to the gods. Theodore asked that he be given the most venerable gods, made of gold and silver, to attend upon at home, and promised that the following day he would return and honor them before the people. The Emperor, thinking that he had succeeded in restoring Theodore to paganism, gladly agreed.

That night the Saint smashed all the idols he had taken home, and distributed the gold and silver pieces to the poor. When this was discovered, Theodore gladly admitted his deed and confessed Christ boldly. The Emperor, in a fury, had the Saint subjected to many tortures, then crucified. On the cross, he was subject to further torments and mutilations: parts of his body were cut off, his eyes put out, and he was shot with arrows, finally being left on the cross for dead. The next day Licinius sent men to cast his body into the sea, but to their amazement they found the Saint alive, his body perfectly intact. Through this, many spectators and some of the Emperor’s own men turned to Christ. Seeing that the Saint, far from renouncing Christ, was leading others to Him, the Emperor promptly had him beheaded. His holy relics were returned to his family home in Euchaita, where they worked so many miracles that the town came to be known as Theodoropolis.

Holy Prophet Zechariah (6th c. BC)

He was among those who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, following the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC. With the Prophet Haggai (December 16) he began to prophesy in Jerusalem in 520, to encourage the Jews to return to their task of rebuilding the Temple, which they had given up in discouragement. His prophetic ministry is described both in the Book of Ezra and in the Old Testament book that bears his name. His prophecies, in addition to speaking to the situation in which he lived, are replete with prophecies of the coming, and second coming, of Christ. His name means “The Lord is renowned.” Sozomen’s Ecclesiastical History reports that under the Emperor Honorius, Zacharias’ holy relics were discovered by divine revelation in Palestine, and were found to be incorrupt.

St Sabbas II, Archbishop of Serbia (1271)

He was the son of St Stephen the First- Crowned King of Serbia (September 24), and the nephew of St Sabbas (Sava) (January 14), the first Archbishop of Serbia. Like his uncle, he became a monk at the monastery of Chilandar on Mt Athos, where he zealously lived the ascetical life until he was elected Bishop of Zachounios, then Archbishop of Serbia. He fell asleep in peace in 1271, having shepherded his flock with love and wisdom. His holy relics are in the monastery of Pech.

Scripture from the World English Bible (Orthodox Edition). Calendar data courtesy of Orthocal.info.

Christ the Savior Orthodox Church
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On Sunday, October 4, 2026 we were pleased to welcome Angela Moore into the Orthodox Church through Holy Chrismation. Angela has taken St. Perpetua, the third-century Christian martyr, as her patron saint. We congratulate Angela, her husband, Christopher, and their son, Benedetto, on this joyous occasion! May the Lord grant them health, strength, salvation, a furtherance in every good thing, and many blessed years!

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