Source: Presbyterian News Service
http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/oldnews/2004/04111.htm
On February 26, 2004 the Presbyterian News Service posted an Ecumenical News International article that reported, "The Orthodox Christian Lent always begins on the Monday before the Sunday of Orthodoxy. In 2004 it falls on Feb. 29 and is a special day in the Orthodox calendar when the faithful are called to rededicate themselves...In Bulgaria, the Sunday before the beginning of Lent is a day on which people traditionally ask forgiveness of each other for wrongdoing in the past year. Customarily, the young first ask their elders for forgiveness. Forgiveness is requested within the family, among friends, and in the workplace. The practice of asking forgiveness even manifested itself in the political arena, with the leader of Bulgaria’s largest opposition party, Nadezhda Mihailova, asking her political rivals for forgiveness on Sunday, which was the second day of a special national conference held by the party."