In the midst of the Russian invasion, Father Oleksandr decided to stay with his community despite the risks. His story, marked by constant prayer of the Rosary and a promise to Our Lady, culminated in a pilgrimage mission with the image of Our Lady of Fatima to war-torn parishes.
On February 26, 2022, Russian troops invaded the Ukrainian coastal city of Melitopol, subsequently taking over much of the Zaporizhia region. In this difficult context, the young 36-year-old Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Oleksandr Bohomaz decided not to abandon his parish. He remained there for nine months with two other priests, caring for survivors who were unable to flee.
Originally from the village of Nyzhni Sirohozy, Bohomaz studied at the Melitopol Pedagogical University and the Three Hierarchs Theological Seminary in Kyiv. He was ordained a priest in May 2016 and assigned to his hometown as parish priest of St. Alexander. Later, he was sent to Melitopol to serve at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During the occupation, Father Oleksandr's communities suffered continuous harassment: interruptions of services, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances. In December 2022, following the promulgation of a Russian decree outlawing the Catholic Church and its charitable works, the priest was arrested. After a harsh interrogation, he was taken to a military checkpoint at the front and forced to walk toward Ukrainian-controlled territory. “Now that I am here, and the parishioners of Melitopol are there, it is my greatest pain not to be able to walk this path with them,” he told reporters from the Catholic University of Ukraine in a recorded testimony.
In May 2025, from the Church of St. Volodymyr the Great in the Zaporizhia region, he recounted his experience to reporters from the American website of the Knights of Columbus, an organization that provides aid in Ukraine. “When the war started, I had to make the decision to support the people, and it came very naturally to me. I think it was by grace, not by my merit. The Lord gave me grace, and I accepted it. I wanted to be present in the lives of our parishioners. I thought, ‘Jesus, I am your instrument. Wherever You want to go, I want to be your donkey. Show me where You want me to go, and I will go there and do whatever You want.’” As long as He needs me to be somewhere, I'm ready to go there."
His spiritual life today relies in a special way on the Blessed Virgin Mary, a bond that began in seminary when a priest encouraged him to pray the rosary. In 2018, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he spent a night in the Grotto of the Annunciation and, meditating on Mary's "yes," felt a call from the Holy Spirit to trust her completely.
Under Russian occupation, in 2022, he lived in continual prayer: "I prayed 10 rosaries a day, sometimes more, even up to 15," he recalls, whether driving, walking, or in chapel. The culmination of this devotion came when he was deported and left in the so-called "grey zone," between the Russian and Ukrainian lines. "I had to cross the 'grey zone' on foot to reach the Ukrainian army positions. I didn't know if I would survive." During that crossing, he made a vow to the Virgin Mary: "If I make it across alive, I promise you that I will tell people that they need to pray the rosary."
He made it through alive and attributes his salvation to the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, although he initially forgot his promise. Ten months later, the bishop asked him to accompany an image of Our Lady of Fatima sent from the Portuguese shrine to the bereaved parishes of Donetsk, Dnipro, and Zaporizhia on pilgrimage. On the way to the first parish, he suddenly remembered that vow. He understood that the mission offered him the opportunity to fulfill it.
Since then, he has declared himself a fervent devotee of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, and shares a testimony that moves many. In his own words:
"At Fatima, Our Lady called the children to pray for the conversion of sinners. The Mother of God also revealed to the children that if Russia did not convert and consecrate itself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, great evil and great lies would come through Russia, which would destroy nations. And today, we see the consequences of this evil. But Our Lady promised that her Immaculate Heart would prevail. I live with this hope and expectation: the victory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I pray for the conversion of Russia. I try to remember this every day at the Divine Liturgy.