catholicmartyrs - Fr. Pavel Chomicz

Pavel Semeonovich Chomicz was born on the 17th of October 1893 in Volkovysk in Grodno Province. He finished the Seminary and Theological Academy in St. Petersburg. He was ordained in 1916. He served in parishes in Petrograd and the surrounding district. After 1920 he was the parish priest in Pskov, and after 1923 of the parish of St. Casimir in Leningrad. He headed groups of the faithful - Franciscan Tertiaries and the Circles of the Holy Rosary. He was arrested in Leningrad in 1926 and sentenced to ten years in the camps. He was a prisoner in the Solovki camp. He was freed in 1936. He sought without success a chance to serve legally in various cities of Russia. In August of 1939 he returned to Leningrad, where he resided illegally, and conducted services secretly in private apartments. After the beginning of the Second World War he accepted the responsibilities of Apostolic Administrator of Leningrad. He was arrested in 1942 and sentenced to be shot. He was shot on the 10th of September, 1942 in Leningrad.

During the time of his imprisonment at Solovki, Fr. Pavel showed great charity toward the other prisoners, often visiting the sick. He played an important role among the prisoners and was one of the organizers of their common religious life. During his interrogations in 1941 Fr. Pavel spoke openly of his religious activities and of his convictions, although he knew that this carried the threat of persecution and death. During the interrogation in 1932 he said: "In my letter I underlined the point, that I'm satisfied with my fate, that is that God marked me with the sufferings in order to encourage the faithful"

Fr. Pavel was beloved and respected by his flock. Among the faithful in St. Petersburg the memory of his martyr death is kept, as is a conviction that he deserves veneration as a saint.