September 21: Prophet Jonah celebratestranslated

Today, the Church celebrates the performance of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and honors the memory of Prophet Jonah, Codratus of the Seventy Apostles in Magnesia and Saint Isaac, bishop of Kiti. We also celebrate the retrieval of the remains of the Child Martyr Gabriel from the village of Zwierki in Bialystok, Poland. Jonah is one of the so-called "minor" Prophets. He tried not to carry out God's command to preach repentance in Nineveh and boarded a ship for the opposite destination. During the voyage, a great storm arose and he was then forced to reveal his disobedience to God's will.

After that, they threw him into the sea willingly and immediately the storm stopped. Jonah was swallowed by a large whale, which washed him ashore after three days. This miracle theologically modeled the three-day burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After the shipwreck, Jonah was again commanded by God to preach repentance in Nineveh. In this case, he quickly obeys God. He preached in Nineveh and then settled outside it, to see the result. Then, the Ninevites with humiliation mourned, fasted, repented…