d their thinking (Figes 65). What about the countryside, which boasted the 'holiness' of Russia and was supposedly the stronghold of the Church? The religiosity if the Russian peasants was one of the greatest myths. They displayed a great deal of external devotion, continually crossing themselves, regularly attending church, always observing the Lenten fast, never working on religious holidays, and sometimes even going on pilgrimages to holy sites, but their actual religion was far from that of the clergy (Cherniavsky 114). The peasants, in actuality, very often had not been completely converted from Pagan beliefs and developed a vernacular religion mixing Christian dogmas and Pagan cults and magic (Figes 66). In addition, peasants saw parish priests not so much as 'spiritual guides or advisors, but as a class of tradesmen with wholesale and retail dealings in sacraments.' (Shanin 66). Priests were
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