Pleading for Forgiveness
Ba’utha and The Supplication of the Ninevites
by Sarah Kittle
Fasting is nothing new for Catholics; a period of refraining from food or drink so as to draw closer to God. Most Catholics observe fasting during Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter, the most sacred of holidays. But if you’re not a member of the Eastern Catholic Rite, you may not have heard of Ba’utha.
A whale’s tale
Ba’utha, or the fast of Nineveh, was inspired by the story of Jonah and the whale. Readers of The Bible may recall that Jonah was tasked with turning the hearts of the people of Nineveh, away from sin and toward God and His teachings. Nineveh was so wicked that Jonah balked. He ran in the opposite direction, certain that the warning he had to give would not only fall on deaf ears, but that he might even be in danger for delivering it.
But after Jonah was thrown from the boat he was trying to sail away in during a violent storm and swallowed by “a great fish,” he was deposited on the shore and told once again to go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeyed. The warning he delivered found receptive ears and the Ninevites declared a fast, corroborated by the King, who donned sackcloth and ashes and pleaded with God for forgiveness of his people. Nineveh was spared and there was much rejoicing.
6th century plague
Reportedly, in the 6th century, a plague once again descended on Nineveh, an ancient city in northern Iraq. When the people of the city came to their bishop and asked for his guidance, he turned to the Word of God for inspiration.
What better story to follow than one of salvation? The story of Jonah is, after all, the story of the salvation of Nineveh. The city was destined for certain destruction when God Himself was moved by the prayers and pleading of His people. Ba’utha literally means “plead” in Aramaic, the language of Christ.
The plague was growing throughout Mesopotamia and the authorities were unable to control its spread. We do not know with certainty which bishop declared the fast, but we know that its duration of three days was chosen because that was how long Jonah was believed to be inside the whale. So, for three days, the metropolitans of the East Syriac ecclesiastical provinces called for services of prayer, fasting, and penitence to be held in all churches under their jurisdiction.
God’s mercy reigns
Following this period of penitence, the plague died out and the tradition of Ba’utha became part of the lore of the Church. This tradition has been strictly adhered to every year by the members of the Church of the East. Patriarchs of this church and the Chaldean Catholic Church have added extra fasts in times of extreme need, such as when ISIS was persecuting Christians in northern Iraq.
The Biblical plague was well documented and suggests that the prophet Jonah’s words were given credibility and adhered to, with every man, woman, child, and even animals abstaining from food and drink during the fast. It makes perfect sense, then, for “modern” Christians of the 6th century to follow his words as well.
Fast of Nineveh
According to Wikipedia, in Syriac Christianity, the Fast of Nineveh (Classical Syriac: Bā’ūtā d-Nīnwāyē, literally “Petition of the Ninevites”) is a three-day fast starting the third Monday before “Clean Monday,” the first day of Great Lent throughout Eastern Christianity.
From Sunday at midnight until noon on Wednesday, participants of this practice usually abstain from all dairy foods and meat products. Some observe the fast more rigorously and abstain from all food and drink from Sunday midnight until Wednesday after Holy Qurbana, which is celebrated before noon.
This year, the fast takes place from February 7 until February 9.