Churches of the Syriac Traditions are currently observing three days of fasting known as the Fast of Nineveh. This three-day fast begins on the third Monday before Clean Monday and lasts until Wednesday.
Ba’utha d’Ninwayeh is a commemoration of the events described in the Book of Jonah. The people of Nineveh repented and fasted upon hearing the words of the Prophet Jonah, and as a result, they were saved from God’s wrath.
The church revived this fast in the sixth century AD when the people of Nineveh were afflicted by a plague. The Bishops of Nineveh and Beth Garmeh (Kirkuk) proposed a fast in the hopes of finding salvation; the patriarch approved and declared a three-day fast. As a result, the people were saved from the plague. Syriac Christians continue to observe this fast to this day.
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