In a small monastery dating back to the 1200s, in the middle of the quiet green Tuscan countryside, live four older Capuchin monks. Raniero, the Father Guardian is a grumpy and strong willed man but yet nice; Gervasio, cheerful yet hypochondriac; Bettino, a simple and naive man and lastly Vittorio, the oldest friar who lovingly looks after the medicinal plant garden.
The four monks are going through very hard times given that their Monastery is falling apart due to its old age.
In sharp contrast, the nearby town of Borgo Treccase is celebrating the reopening of the restored town church after it had been closed for many years due to the damage that was caused by an earthquake some years earlier.
Raniero comes to town and argues with the Mayor in front of everyone, accusing him of having favored the church over the monastery just for a private interest.
The ‘quiet’ life of the monastery is interrupted by the arrival of Antonio a likeable thirty year old man from Rome. He claims to be a student of Architecture who decided to write his thesis on the monastery.
He gains the monks’ trust, except for Raniero.
Antonio seems to be spending as much time as he can in the monastery and above all, he is really interested in getting to know better the Guardian Friar Raniero.
Antonio comes up with an idea on how to repair the monastery roofing: he makes a deal with Giorgia, a young woman in town who does carpenter work and starts a complete renovation of the monastery.
During the restoration, Antonio and Giorgia become truly infatuated with each other, but never touch or kiss.
This is mainly because Giorgia is engaged to Niccolò, the Mayor’s son and they are to be married soon. Antonio appears also to be somewhat “mysterious”, never talking about himself and carefull in avoiding anything related to his past.
One morning Raniero seems to be missing, but Antonio understands ‘everything’ when he sees his mother’s picture in Raniero’s cell.
So he leaves, without giving an explanation to the unsuspecting monks.
He arrives at his village near Rome, he gets out of the car and he passes through a gate. It’s the cemetery’s gate and he finds Raniero next to Eleonora’s tomb, Antonio’s mother.
They keep silent for a few minutes, without saying a word.
Then Raniero tells him about the encounter with his mom, a single love encounter when they hold each other trying to escape the orrors of war.
He also tells him that the next morning, she was gone and, that he looked for her for a long time, without success.
At this point, Antonio pulls from his pocket a letter his mother wrote to him on her death bed. In the letter she not only reveals that Raniero is his father, but she also explains why she decided to vanish the way she did. She wanted to protect Raniero who had devoted his life to God and therefore had no other choice.
Giorgia is also going through a period of major upheaval. She feels attracted to Antonio but, to understand if she really loves him, she has to know more about him. She would love to have an open and honest relationship, sweeping away the mistery that surronds the man. However she is now determined or better yet resigned to marry Niccolò.
The night before the wedding, Antonio tells Giorgia everything about himself: he came to the monastery just to know his father, Raniero. He also confesses his love for her and tells her that now it’s up to her to decide what she wants from life. Then he goes away, leaving Giorgia completely confused.
On their wedding day. Giorgia and Niccolò are about to get married in front of the entire county. Just as she’s about to say Yes, Giorgia flees from the altar, telling Raniero that she is headed to “her special place.”
Antonio understands that she is referring to an old crumbling tower in the country where she took him once and so decides to join her there.
When he arrives at the tower, Antonio sees Giorgia who still wearing her wedding dress, throws herself in his arms.
When they are on their way back to the convent, the car ends up off the road and they have a terrible accident.
They are taken to the hospital. Giorgia is out of danger, while Antonio is in extremely serious conditions and needs emergency surgery. Raniero asks God to save his son. The surgery is successful and Antonio is out of danger. Six months later, Giorgia and Antonio are getting married at the convent surronded by friends and family
When all the guests have arrived, Raniero goes to close the gate of the convent. But then he changes his mind.That gate will never be closed again.

After Raniero, the Guardian Friar of the Capuchin Monastery of Bosco Treccase found out he had a son from the brief but intense love story with Eleonora, he has to face a new difficul trial.
When he comes back from his Angola mission, our friar is inexplicably arrested, to the amazement of the entire town and of the friars.
The police has mistaken Raniero for Rocco Mattone, a dangerous criminal with whom he shares an incredible resemblance. Later, the arrest of the real criminal ends the unpleasant misunderstanding.
Rocco Mattone was running away both from police and his fellow band members after he stole from them a considerable amount of money, fruit of a recent burglary for which they are all wanted by the law.
At the police station, commissioner Alessandro Bergozi clears up the matter with Raniero showing the friar his double. The encounter with Rocco truly shocks Raniero, who starts to ask himself a series of disturbing questions.
During a transfer of prisoners, Rocco Mattone escapes with the help of the mafia Boss Nicola La Branca’s men who seak vengeance for his betrayal. However Rocco gets away from them and takes refuge in the monastery with the intention of killing the friar and impersonate him. Waiting for the right time to leave with a new passport, Rocco plays the role of Raniero.
The co-existence of the two men in the convent becomes the source of a series of exhilarating misunderstandings that will involve the town residents and the unsuspecting friars, until Raniero finds out the truth. But Raniero instead of reporting the criminal to the police, thinks that he can convert him.
Sure that good and evil are nothing but the two sides of the same coin, Raniero even accepts to end up in prison in Rocco’s place, forcing the friars to go along with the farce.
The trials to which the criminal is subjected, will turn him into a different man.
While he’s playing the role of Raniero, he will be faced by many problems. First when the young novice Tommaso, faces a vocational crisis that brings him to quit being a monk, or when a young indian woman Divia arrives in the little village of Bosco Treccase and opens a spice and parfume shop.
The women of the village, who are jealous of her beauty, accuse her of being a witch. The girl, overwhelmed by their slander, is forced to leave town thus ending the sweet love story just started with the intriguing police chief.
Raniero’s life in jail is not so easy either. The friar has to learn the harsh law of criminals but, at the same time, continue doing some good deeds.
When they swap their roles again to go back to their true identities , Raniero and Rocco will have learned a great truth.