No, this is not true. Firstly, Great Lent, like the one-day fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, is the oldest Church rule: its beginnings can be found as far back as in the 1st century. In ancient Russia the fast came through Byzantium from the ancient Christian Church, from apostolic times, it was also known in the times of the Old Testament (Exod.34:28; Dan.10:2-3; Ezd.8:21-23; 2 Sam.12:16-20; Ion.3:5-10; Joel.1:14, 2:12-15; Zech. 8:19). In the New Testament fasting is sanctified by Jesus Christ - by his personal example of strict 40-day fasting in the wilderness before going out for public ministry and by the commandment about fasting to his disciples (Mt.6:16,18; Mt.17:21). Christ's disciples also fasted (Acts 13:2-3). Therefore, when we assert the "naturalness" of fasting during the period when the peasants had nothing to eat, we forget that there are four fasts in the annual cycle. Besides, although peasants who had cattle and poultry did not eat meat the whole year, a good cow could be milked all the year round, chickens could lay eggs the most part of the year, so that if they wanted, the peasants could eat milk, meat and eggs in spring. At the same time, the duration of Great Lent is connected not with the lack of food supplies of peasants, but with the imitation of the forty-day fast of the Saviour in the desert (Lk.4:2), and also it was a standard time of fasting for those who wanted to be baptised: in the ancient Church people were baptised on Easter, and those who were baptised would have prepared for this event for 40 days, praying in the temple, learning the basics of faith and fasting.

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