Poland, 1945. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, is on a mission to help the war survivors. When a nun seeks for her help, she is brought to a convent where several pregnant sisters are hiding, unable to reconcile their faith with their pregnancy. Mathilde becomes their only hope.

During an uprising in the Belgian Congo, a convent of nuns are besieged and the Reverend Mother is killed and Sister Maria is raped. Returning to Belgium, Sister Maria finds out to her horror that she is pregnant. Rejected by her family and her sister, she is told by the Vatican that she is supposed to either give the baby to the church and still be a nun or keep the baby and leave the order. This film follows her decision.