Skopje, 13 January 2026 (MIA) – Orthodox Christians observing the Julian calendar celebrate the Old New Year Tuesday evening, which starts Wednesday on Saint Basil the Great Day (Vasilica).

Many Macedonian families celebrate the Orthodox New Year as a family feast, involving the bread with a hidden coin that is believed to bring luck in the new year to the one who finds it.

On the occasion of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the Saint Basil the Great, churches of the Macedonian Orthodox Church will hold the Holy Liturgy of Saint Basil on Wednesday.

Saint Basil the Great is one of the three leading Church teachers of the fourth century. Born in Cappadocia, he was educated in Athens. He was a distinguished Christian philosopher and is remembered as a bishop and a defender of Orthodox teaching. Saint Basil the Great died on January 14, 379.

In addition to the Macedonian Orthodox Church, religious holidays according to the Julian calendar are also observed by the Russian and Serbian Churches, the Jerusalem Patriarchate, and the monks of Mount Athos. In contrast, the Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Georgian Orthodox Churches follow the Gregorian calendar.

Photo: MIA archive/Chatgpt