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)
Bearing in mind this typology, some of our readers may be interested to recall the ambo of the duomo of Ravello, which we have shown here before, which has figurative mosaics which depict Jonah and the whale, with the one side showing his being swallowed by the whale, and the other, his being released.
Jonah is commemorated today in the Roman Martyrology thus: "In the land of Saar, St. Jonas, prophet, who is buried in Geth."
Two icons of Jonah:
In the Byzantine calendar, the prophet Jonah is commemorated tomorrow, September 22nd.
