Christians lit candles to mark the advent of New Year 2006 and commemorate St. Vassilij. People named Vassil, Vesselin, etc. mark their name day on January 1. Photo by Kameliya Atanasova (Sofia News Agency)
On the first day of the New Year Bulgarian Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Vassilij the Great, who lived around 330-379.
Being a bishop in the Caesar's territory of Capadocia (today's Asia Minor), he fought against the movements denying Jesus Christ's divine origin, and he succeeded in imposing the principles of the Orthodox Christianity to a large part of the Roman Empire territories.
It was him who popularized the ideas of "active forgiveness" and "doing good deeds as an implementation of Christ's concept of love and forgiveness". He used to be called "the Great" long before his death. He was canonized as a saint, and the day of his death - January 1st - has been celebrated each year ever since.