Friday, January 26, is when the Armenian Church remembers the Prophet Jonah (Hovnan), one of the Minor Prophets. The Minor Prophets are not considered less important than the ones called Major Prophets, but their books are shorter. All of the Minor Prophets were servants of God who proclaimed His will to people in need of repentance.
The story of Jonah and the whale is one of the better-known stories in the Old Testament. Jonah’s feast falls on the last day of the Fast of the Catechumens, and after three days without any specified readings, the reading for tomorrow is the entire book of Jonah. Just as the people of Nineveh fasted and repented from their wicked ways, so too do the people of God during this preliminary fast before Great Lent (Medz Bahk), the most penitential season of the year.