Come to the Stable

Two French nuns, Margaret and Scholastica, arrive in the New England town of Bethlehem and announce their mission to build a children's hospital. Margaret recalls her wartime duty at a Normandy hospital and the vow she made to God to return home to help children. The town braces for a hopeful project that will change its future.

Amelia Potts' nativity-inspired artwork becomes a guiding cue for the hospital’s location. The sisters and Miss Potts decide that a hill depicted in her paintings would be an ideal spot for the future hospital. They envision a project that honors both art and faith.

Bob Masen informs the sisters that the hill sits on land owned by Luigi Rossi in New York. The revelation sets the stage for a fundraising trip and a potential donor, though Rossi's disposition remains uncertain. The sisters prepare to seek his generosity in person.

The sisters seek support from the local Catholic Bishop who cannot offer significant funds but provides a small advance to help them stay afloat. The gesture gives the project some momentum despite financial obstacles.

Bob's religious porter, Anthony James, offers a ride and steady assistance to the sisters. They rely on his help as they plan a journey to New York to confront Mr. Rossi. The collaboration strengthens their resolve to pursue the land for the hospital.

The sisters borrow a jeep to travel to New York City and press Luigi Rossi for a donation. The trip is fraught with tension as they navigate Rossi's security to gain an audience. The encounter marks a turning point in the project, shifting from dream to potential reality.

Rossi reveals that he intended to retire on the site, but his mood softens when he learns his son was killed in action near the hospital in Rouen. The sisters offer prayers for Rossi's son, deepening their connection. The meeting adds a personal stake to the land's future.

Rossi agrees to donate the land if the sisters install a stained-glass window in memory of his son. The sisters accept the condition, recognizing it as a meaningful tribute. They return with a renewed sense of purpose and a plan to honor Rossi's sacrifice.

Back in Bethlehem, Bob announces that he will go to Hollywood for twelve weeks to work on a motion picture, leaving Miss Potts and the sisters to continue preparations. The news is bittersweet but underscores the interconnected lives around the project.

The sisters secure a three-month option for $5,000 on a former witch-hazel bottling plant opposite Rossi’s land to serve as a temporary hospital site. The bishop discovers a looming $25,000 mortgage that could jeopardize the plan and contemplates cancelling the deal. In a dramatic turn, 11 more sisters and a French chaplain arrive to bolster the effort, and the bishop relents, allowing the option to proceed for now.

Bob returns with Kitty and three house guests to discover a growing community of sisters staging a produce-and-arts sale in Miss Potts' yard. He pushes for eviction, but the sisters plan to move into the bottling plant anyway to ready the site for purchase. The tension underscores how resourceful the group must be to keep the project alive.

With the option deadline looming, the sisters are $500 short. At a gathering, Kitty performs Bob’s new song, while the sisters sing a hymn whose melody resembles the tune, prompting concerns about plagiarism. A music critic identifies the melody as a 1200-year-old Gregorian chant, tying tradition to the project’s future.

The next morning, the sisters accidentally drive a stake through Bob’s water line while building a shrine, causing a gusher they mistake as a holy sign. Bob tries to keep the bottling plant out of their hands, but his actions inadvertently reaffirm the community’s faith in the project. The incident heightens the sense that larger forces are at work.

After further moments of reflection, Bob is moved to reconsider the sisters’ mission, and he reconnects with their Normandy roots. The film ends with the dedication of the temporary hospital home, attended by Bob, Kitty, Anthony, Miss Potts, Mr. Rossi, and the bishop, symbolizing a shared commitment to the St. Jude project.