You did pass three days and night within the sea-monster’s entrails, showing forth the Lord’s descent into the belly of Hades. For when He had freely suffered His saving Passion, He arose out of the sepulcher on the the third day. Hence, we honor you, O Prophet, who wads deemed worthy to be a figure of Christ. (Kontakion, 3rd tone)The Roman Martyrology notes today, in addition to the
evangelist Saint Matthew, as the feast day of the Old Testament prophet Jonah,
as a saint. Jonah lived in the eighth century BC and succeeded the Prophet
Elisha. His prophecies included judgments on the people of Israel and the downfall of Jerusalem,
the suffering of the Savior, and the
final destruction of the world; his prophetic utterances therefore focused on penance and repentance of all believers which is a central theme in the preaching of Jesus, which He the disciples to. The Fathers of the Church
have taught that Prophet Jonah is a type of Christ:
An evil and adulterous
generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of
the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for
three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the
earth for three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will stand up at
the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when
Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!
(Matthew 12:39-41)
generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of
the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for
three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the
earth for three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will stand up at
the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when
Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!
(Matthew 12:39-41)