Iraqi Christians attend the reopening ceremony of the Tahira Chaldean Church after its reconstruction, in Mosul

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News from the Orient - January 23, 2026

In this week’s news from the Eastern Churches, produced in collaboration with L’Œuvre d’Orient, we take a look at the Nineveh Fast celebrated in particular by the Syriac Churches.

This week, Christian communities of the East observed the Nineveh Fast. It's a three-day fast, deeply rooted in the Assyrian tradition and observed three weeks before Lent.

The fast commemorates the three days Jonah spent in the belly of the Great Fish, as well as the repentance of the inhabitants of Nineveh after hearing his warnings.

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In the Bible, Jonah is sent to Nineveh to call the population to change their ways. Faced with the divine punishment, the inhabitants choose fasting and prayer. It’s a collective act of conversion, to which God responds with His mercy.

Even today, the Nineveh Fast is observed in most Eastern Christian Churches.

It’s time of sobriety, prayer, and solidarity. An ancient tradition, still alive among the Churches of East.

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