In World War II, the widow Barny sees the Italian soldiers arriving in occupied Saint Bernard while walking to her job. Barny copes with her child and also functions dealing with examinations and really feels a terrific destination toward her manager Sabine. When the Germans arrive, Barny sends her half-Jewish little girl to reside in a farm in the countryside and also finds that Sabine's bro has actually been arrested as well as sent out to a prisoner-of-war camp. The atheist Barny chooses to baptize her daughter to secure her as well as picks clergyman Léon Morin to talk about with him styles associated with religious beliefs and Catholicism as well as Léon provides publications to her. Barny converts to the Catholicism and ends up being closer to Léon, really feeling an unrequited wish for him.