Food ration of Russian peasants during fast days in the ХIХ century

The article is devoted to the traditional dietary of Russian peasants which included fast days set apart for partial or complete abstinence from food during a calendar year. The importance of fast days was not only in their restricting the diet to certain sets of food products, they also served to consolidate the norms of morality, to foster positive qualities and the like. On the basis of the significant mass of archival and field materials as well as published sources the author demonstrates the great role of fast days in the folk life.