 Widower Luis Armejo and Manuela Garcia are getting married, and everyone in Esperanza, the town in which they live, are happy for them. Among the happy are Luis  son, Tonio. However the attention of his affection changes quickly to Sister Bertrille, who Tonio believes is his mother. He believes so because she came out of the sky - he infers from heaven - and Sister Bertrille really is the spitting image of Luis  first wife. Sister Bertrille, the understanding Manuela and Father Dominic - the town s sage - feel that they can t tell Tonio the truth because it would both destroy Tonio s psyche as well as cause a ruckus due to the incredulity of Sister Bertrille s flight. Luis on the other hand just wants to marry Manuela and get on with leading their lives. When Manuela decides to leave Esperanza to allow Tonio to figure out what he needs in his life, Sister Bertrille decides what s best is for her to leave as quickly as she came, and to explain to Tonio that she came to make sure that someone on Earth was there to love him, that someone being Manuela. As Sister Bertrille takes off on her flight back to San Tanco, Manuela is there as Tonio s support.