Padre Nazario, Francisco Rabal, is a quiet, temperate priest who lives in a modest hostel and distributes what little he has, even when his own safety is at stake. He moves through his days with a steady kindness, offering understanding to those who cross his path, including Beatriz, Marga López a woman tormented by psychotic episodes after being abandoned by her lover Pinto. Nazario treats her with patience and tries to ease the burden she carries, never rushing to judgment.
Andara, Rita Macedo, a prostitute, storms into Nazario’s room seeking shelter after a confrontation has left her wounded and having murdered another prostitute. He withholds judgment and helps her hide, while gently guiding her to face her own guilt. Andara’s fear and guilt intensify when she hallucinates a laughing portrait of Jesus Christ, a moment that unsettles Beatriz as well. The hostel’s proprietor soon learns of Andara’s stay and demands that she be kept out of sight, trying to erase any trace of her presence. Yet Andara’s stay is short-lived: after Nazario leaves, she sets the room on fire and escapes into the night.
With the priest drawn into trouble with both secular authorities and the church, Nazario faces investigation and potential loss of his priestly standing. Having nothing of his own—everything having been taken or given away—he abandons his priestly garb, takes on plain clothes, and wanders the country begging for food. He encounters a construction crew and offers to work in exchange for his meals, but the other laborers resent his presence, feeling he undercuts them and displaces them in their own work. They ultimately shun him, and Nazario leaves with nothing. Misunderstandings about his motives intensify tensions, culminating in a violent clash between workers and their foreman.
As if by a miracle, Nazario encounters Beatriz again in a different town. He reveals that his possessions were stolen, and she guides him to Andara, who lives with her, and to a sick girl whose mother pleads for a cure. Nazario suggests a physician rather than a miracle, yet he prays with them, and the fever subsides. Andara and Beatriz grow convinced that Nazario is a miracle-worker, even as he protests, and they follow him despite his attempts to steer them away. In one episode, he helps a party whose horse has a broken leg, and tensions arise when a Colonel berates a peasant for not saluting. Nazario’s quiet defense of the peasant earns him contempt from the Colonel, who tries to draw a gun, only to be restrained by Nazario’s restraint and the perception that the priest should be left alone.
Their pursuit continues to a plague-ridden village, where Nazario’s aid is rejected by a dying woman who clings to her husband’s ministrations rather than his. The experience leaves Nazario feeling like a failure, a weight that presses on his conscience and faith.
A midget professes love for Andara, while Pinto reappears and accuses her of being “the priest’s lover,” pressuring her to leave with him. Nazario reminds her that she struggles with Satan but should resist, and she asks how he knew something was wrong. He replies with quiet certainty: “It’s not guessing; it’s knowing.” Andara presses on, insisting they flee together, but Nazario warns that only thieves flee and that the divine will not abandon them. Beatriz proclaims her trust in him and even quotes a Bible line: “If I can carry your load on my back, I will.” Andara counters, accusing Nazario of favoring Beatriz, while he maintains that his love extends to both in a Christian sense.
Caught by a search party, Andara and Nazario are arrested. Beatriz pleads for his release, and Pinto informs Beatriz’s mother that she should depart with him. Beatriz sings Nazario’s praises, prompting her mother to respond that Beatriz loves Nazario “like a man,” a remark that pushes Beatriz into another psychotic episode. Nazario’s cellmates taunt and assault him, and he experiences a devastating crisis of faith, crying out a torrent of feelings about forgiveness and guilt. A fellow prisoner intervenes, and Nazario gives him some of his money.
The authorities declare Nazario insane and disobedient, and as he is led away, Pinto and Beatriz pass by without recognizing him. A final moment on the road finds Nazario face to face with the world again, receiving a pineapple from a passing fruit seller. He initially refuses, then accepts, murmuring, “May God repay you,” before he is led away, overwhelmed and distraught.
> "For the first time in my life, I find it hard to forgive. But I forgive you. It is my Christian duty. But I also scorn you! And I feel guilty, not knowing how to separate scorn from forgiveness."
In the end, Nazario’s journey is one of humility, doubt, and perseverance—a man of faith who continually confronts moral ambiguity, tries to do right by those in distress, and bears the weight of the world’s judgments while searching for a higher understanding of mercy.
