A priest from a Carpathian village who sheltered an orphan teenager, Bogdan Chichura, sends him to a theological seminary. After graduating from the seminary with honors, the young man enters the Gregorian University, becomes a doctor of theology and returns to his village. Here he learns that his beloved Ruzhena, deceived by the bishop's letter, has gone to a monastery. And her father, a Rusyn, is being persecuted by the authorities and the church for his leftist beliefs. Bogdan embarks on a difficult struggle for the honor of his loved ones. But the Second World War begins.