Our Lord Jesus Christ: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet." St. Matthew 12:39
And He repeats: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet." St. Matthew 16:4
The Tomb of Saint Jonah the Prophet in Nineveh (Mosul)
Once an Assyrian Church, converted into a mosque after the Muslim invasions, the tomb of the famous Old Testament Prophet who made the Ninevites do penance and recognize the God of Israel had first been vandalized after the fall of Mosul weeks ago. It was completely imploded, its structure demolished with explosives by the terrorists of the "Islamic State" earlier today as a place of "idolatry" -- which is why those happy barbarians in the video proclaim, "there is no God but Allah"...
Nearly 3000-year-old relics and archaeological treasures, the spiritual treasure of the Assyrian people under the mosque turned into dust.
Nearly 3000-year-old relics and archaeological treasures, the spiritual treasure of the Assyrian people under the mosque turned into dust.
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P.S. Of course, the sign of Jonah in the words of Our Lord was primarily the prophetic nature of his life as a sign of Christ's own Death and Resurrection. But no lesson from Our Lord is ever lost: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonah." (St. Matthew 12:41)
One further note: some may read elsewhere that this was not incontestably the tomb of Jonah, a kind of uncertainty that is not something very rare in the case of prophets of Antiquity and ancient saints -- in any event, it was since immemorial time considered so by Assyrians, including after their conversion to Christianity. At the very least, it was a site always considered holy by Assyrian Christians, who buried many of their saints and bishops on the spot for good reason and who, being partly the descendants of the Ninevites themselves, have better claim to knowledge of the site: is it impossible that, even if Jonah died elsewhere, his memory was so cherished in ancient Assyria that his relics were completely or partly translated to this place, which undoubtedly was a relevant Ninevite building already 3,000 years ago? Therefore, the Mount of Saint Jonah (where this church-converted-to-mosque was located) has a better claim to being Jonah's burial ground (or at least of part of his relics) than most places. Additionally to this, we know the terrorists obliterated it because they also believed Jonah was buried there, so their intent was to destroy both the memory of the Prophet and the heritage of Assyrian Christians, irrespective of archaeological details of which archaeologists themselves will never be sure.
