In this drama, broadcast live from New York, a baby girl is left anonymously at a convent of Dominican nuns. The sisters decide to raise the child in accordance with the mother's wishes, as expressed in a note that accompanies the infant. Told in flashbacks, the story depicts how each nun reacts to the prospect of raising a child, deals with the child's upbringing, and copes with her departure eighteen years later. Meanwhile, there is constant disagreement among the mother superiors about the rules governing the novices and how strictly they should be observed.