Synopsis
An Ave Maria is intoned from within the chapel of a 17th century Italian convent. Two tardy sisters rush by. A third, Suor Angelica, kisses the ground as a sign of penance.
We learn of a miraculous fountain at the convent that once a year gleams with golden water when struck by sunlight. Angelica begins to speak mysteriously of desires. Although the other sisters know little about her, they believe she is of noble birth, sent to the convent as a punishment. Angelica has not heard from her family in seven years.
Suddenly, the nursing sister enters, begging Suor Angelica to help Sister Chiara, who has been stung by wasps in the garden. Angelica, familiar with the medicinal properties of plants, quickly provides a remedy.
After their daily rounds, two alms-gathering sisters arrive and ask who is visiting the convent. The visitor is Suor Angelica’s aunt (la Zia Principessa). The woman coldly demands Angelica relinquish her inheritance in favor of her younger sister, who is soon to be married. Angelica, no longer desiring material things, agrees. With mounting anxiety, Angelica demands to know what has become of the son she gave birth to seven years earlier. The aunt slowly replies that he died two years before, despite all efforts to save him.
Angelica, in her anguish, wishes now to join her son in paradise. She happily drinks poison made from her beloved flowers. Realizing, however, that suicide is a mortal sin, she beseeches the Blessed Mother for forgiveness. A celestial light floods the scene as an image of the Virgin Mary appears leading a small boy by the hand. Angelica dies amid the chorus from heaven, saved. |
