The Serbian, Russian, Georgian Orthodox Church, Holy Mountain and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who respect the Julian calendar, will welcome New Year at midnight.
At midnight, prayer services will be served at Orthodox temples for a successful and blessed New Year.
The tradition of celebrating the Julian New Year also exists in some of the German cantons of Switzerland (Alter Silvester) as well as in some parts of the Gaul community in Scotland.
The Julian calendar was introduced by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar in 45 BC and was used throughout Europe until the 16th century when the gradual transition of certain countries to the Gregorian calendar began.
At the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325, the Christian Church accepted the Julian calendar as official.
The creator of the calendar is the Greek astronomer Sosigen, at the initiative of Julius Caesar, by whom the calendar is named.
The Orthodox New Year in Banja Luka will be marked by concerts in the port of the Temple of Christ the Savior. From 8 pm, the Veselin Maslesha Folk Dance and Song Ensemble, the City Tamburitza Orchestra and the Iskon Ethno Group will perform. A prayer service will be held at midnight.
The event was also organized in Trebinje, Doboj, Teslić, Derventa, Novi Grad, Istočno Novo Sarajevo and Stanari.
Source: RTRS
