What is the Fast of Nineveh (Jonah's Fast)?
By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-09
In G4 - Growing with Discipline, Pope Shenouda III explained that, “The fast of Jonah or Nineveh occurs two weeks before Lent and has the same rite and tunes. It heralds the coming of Lent and prepares the congregation to repentance which is the essence of the fast of Nineveh.”
The fast begins on the Monday two weeks before Lent and lasts for three days, corresponding to the time Jonah remained inside the whale's belly. As detailed in G4 - Growing with Discipline, it is categorized as a first-degree fast—much like the Great Lenten fast—featuring abstinent fasting lasting until 6 pm and strictly no seafood permitted. The congregation entreats God's mercy during this period so that they might be brought to repentance just as the people of Nineveh were.
The liturgical context and theological meaning are preserved in Rites_Jonah_Fast_Feast_Readings. The Doxology for the Fast of Jonah proclaims:
“Jonah the prophet was, in the belly of the whale, for three days and three nights, like the burial of our Savior.” (“Iwna pi\`provytyc@ naf,y qen \`;neji \`mpikytoc@ \`nsomt \`n\`ehoou nem somt \`n\`ejwrh@ kata pikwc \`mPencwtyr.”)
The doxology continues by noting that “The Lord sent him, to the people of Nineveh, to prepare them, and they repented,” and that “Three days and three nights, were spent in prayer and fasting, with labor and tears, along with the birds and the cattle.”
Historically, when Jonah preached God's warning—noted in Holy Bible_Orthodox Study Bible (English)_part_25 as “Yet three days and Nineveh shall be overthrown” and in G4 - Growing with Discipline as “Forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown”—the people believed God. They put on sackcloth and ashes, and their king commanded all humans and beasts to fast without tasting food or drinking water, and to cry mightily to God.
As explained in Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail, “All God's arrangements are successful: He succeeded to lead the mariners, Jonah, and the people of Nineveh into repentance, and His knowledge.” The Fast of Nineveh reminds the faithful never to despair, because God is fully capable of working repentance within believers today.
Sources: G4 - Growing with Discipline; Rites_Jonah_Fast_Feast_Readings; Holy Bible_Orthodox Study Bible (English)_part_25; Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail