Inspired by a true case reported in the press and divided into twelve chapters, As Horas de Maria follows a young blind woman, allegedly raped by her stepfather, who is interned in a mental hospital convinced of a cure through a miracle of Our Lady of Fatima. When it was released in 1979, the film was accused of blasphemy by the Catholic Church and received with violence by conservative groups - leading to a huge scandal at a time when Portugal was changing.