During a rainy night a woman puts a little bundle before a convent. It's a baby girl to whom the nuns give the the name Maria. When Maria grows up she marries Salvatore. Soon a new character is introduced in the story, Salvatore's sister, a no gooder, lover of a loan shark who has got her pregnant. Maria tries to convince him to marry her but she only gains Salvatore's distrust who believes her to be the old man's lover. The two now live apart and Maria is pregnant with Salvatore's child. When she delivers the baby she brings him to the convent like her mother did with her and while she prays the Madonna to forgive her her imaginary sin she's joined by her husband who has finally understood she has always loved him.