How did she know?
-Somebody told her.
-Who?
-I don't know.
Agnes.
You'll laugh.
I promise I won't laugh.
Who told her?
An angel during one of her headaches.
-Did she see angels often?
-No.
-Do you?
-No.
Do you believe she really saw them?
-No. But I could never tell her that.
-Why not?
She'd get angry.
Agnes, did you love your mother?
-Yes.
-Did you ever want to be a mother?
-I could never be a mother.
-Why not?
I'm not old enough,
and I don't want to have a baby.
Why not?
Because I don't want one.
-If you did, how would you get one?
-From someone who didn't want a baby.
-Like you?
-No, not like me.
How would they get one?
-A mistake.
-Agnes.
-Your mother...
-It was a mistake.
-That's what she said?
-You want me to say she was bad...
...but she was a saint!
-You know nothing about sex?
-I'm stupid.
You don't remember getting pregnant
or carrying a child?
-It was a mistake!
-A child?
Everything! Nuns don't have children!
Don't touch me like that!
I know what you want from me.
You want to take God away.
You should be ashamed. They should
lock you up, people like you!
Don't let her take me away.
-You hate us, don't you?
-What?
Nuns. You hate nuns.
-I hate stupidity.
-And the Church.
-I haven't said...
-The Church isn't on trial.
Deal with her without prejudice
or leave the case.
-This is my affair!
-And mine.
-How dare you try to bully me?!
-I only want you to be fair.
You expect applause for the way
you've treated this child?
She's not a child.
She should know the world is filled
with people who don't believe in God.
People who've never bent
their knees once, to anybody!
People who fall in love
and have babies, and are happy!
She has a right to know that,
but the Church has kept her ignorant.
Ignorance is next to virginity!
Poverty, chastity and ignorance!
I'm not a virgin, doctor.
I was married for 23 years.
I even have grandchildren. I was
a failure as a wife and a mother.
My children won't even
see me anymore.
They tell their friends that I'm dead.
I'm not making up for past mistakes,
Dr. Freud!
-Then help her.
-I am.
Let her face the world.
Why? It's either prison or a nut house
and the differences are pretty thin!
-There's another choice.
-What?
-Acquittal.
-How?
Legal innocence.
I know the judge wants any reason
to throw this case out of court.
-What do you need?
-Answers.
When would Agnes have
conceived the child?
Sometime in January.
Remember anything unusual
happening at the time?
Earthquakes.
-Visitors to the convent?
-Nothing.
-Do you have a daybook?
-Yes.
-Take a look at it.
-There's nothing here.
Was it full-term?
-Oh, dear God.
-What is it?
-The sheets.
-What sheets?
Oh, dear God. I should have guessed.
I should have suspected something.
Marguerite says you've been sleeping
on a bare mattress. True?
-Yes, Mother.
-Why?
In the medieval days,
nuns and monks slept in coffins.
-It's not the Middle Ages.
-It made them holy.
It made them uncomfortable.
The next day they were
cranky as mules.
Sister, where are your sheets?
Do you think a bare mattress
is like a coffin?
No.
Then tell me,
where are your sheets?
-I burned them.
-Why?
They were stained.
How many times have I told you
and your fellow novice...
...that menstruation is natural
and not to be ashamed of?
-Yes, Mother.
-Say it.
It is a natural process
and nothing to be ashamed of.
-Mean it.
-It is a perfectly natural...
Years ago, one of the sisters came
to me in tears, seeking comfort...
...because she was too old to have
children. Not that she wanted to.
But once a month she'd been reminded
of the possibility of motherhood.
Dry your eyes, Sister,
and thank God for that possibility.
It's not that, it's not that.
-What do you mean?
-It's not my time of month.
-Should you see a doctor?
-I don't know what happened.
There was blood on the
sheets, but I don't know why.
I don't know what I did wrong.
I