Sister Edgar, at eighty, is the last nun in her Bronx convent to wear a traditional habit. Her practices have changed, her views have matured—but her compassion remains robust. One day, she and the other nuns take a trip into the worst area of the Bronx, known as the Bird. Crime, the crack epidemic, and poverty have left it desolate. They disembark near the neighborhood's memorial wall: a huge concrete slab that Ismael, a community leader and scrap dealer, and his crew decorate with an angel every time a child dies. Ismael and the nuns work together. They give Ismael lists detailing the locations of abandoned cars, and he helps them distribute food. While they talk, they see a flash. Esmeralda, a twelve-year-old girl, lives alone in a parking lot, hiding from all visitors. Sister Edgar tells Ismael to look out for her, and the nuns proceed to deliver food and kindness throughout a tenement. Except for a tasteless tour bus of Europeans, everything goes well. Weeks later, the friary calls the convent. Esmeralda has been raped and thrown off of a roof. Sister Edgar and Sister Gracie, who knew the girl, struggle to come to terms with the tragedy, even when they see Esmeralda's angel painted on the wall. But later that month, a strange story begins to spread. When passing trains illuminate a certain billboard, an apparition of Esmeralda's face shines through the advertisement sitting there. Sister Edgar, Sister Gracie, and Sister Jan investigate, and when they and the thousand other onlookers see the truth of it, they are in body shock. Eventually, the sign is removed, but the healing it allows the community remains.