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| Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669 (Jonah Praying before the Walls of Ninevah) |
"Lord today we celebrate the Sign of Your Prophet, Jonah. May it be that we've not so much found this Sign but that we have been found of it. May we, as with Jonah, be delivered up on the shore of a shoreless sea. May we not plunder this Mystery with our certitudes thus declaring only You to be Certain." -monk of the lake (Matthew 28:7)
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| Jan Brueghel the Elder 1568 – 1625 (Jonah spit out on shore) |
Today at St. Simeon Skete, the Monday following Septuagesima Sunday, we begin the tradition of what is known as the "Jonah Fast". This Fast commemorates the three days that Prophet Jonah spent in the belly of the beast - the whale.
It also commemorates the repentance of the people of Nineveh and is sometimes called the "Ninevah Fast".
For more details on this Fast, please click on this link to read a previous post of this blog.
During these next few days, you might want to read The Book of Jonah in Scriptures.
Basic Outline
- Jonah flees his mission (ch. 1-2)
- Jonah's commission and flight (1:1-3)
- The Endangered sailors' cry to their gods (1:4-6)
- Jonah's disobedience exposed (1:7-10)
- Jonah's Punishment and Deliverance (1:11 -2:1; 2:10)
- His prayer of thanksgiving (2:2-9)
- Jonah reluctantly fulfills his mission (Ch 3-4)
- Jonah's renewed commission and obedience (3:1-4)
- The Endangered Ninevites' Repentant Appeal to the Lord (3:5-9)
- The Ninevites' Repentance acknowledged (3:10-4:4)
- Jonah's Deliverance and Rebuke (4:5-11)