Agnes of God is believed to be based on an actual incident, which occurred in a convent in Brighton, N.Y., near the conservative community of Rochester.

The play features a young novitiate of French ethnicity, who was molested by her mother as a child, sang in an ethereal voice, and, as an innocent, may have been impregnated by an alcoholic priest. The nun, Sister Maureen, who was actually accused of killing her baby was 36 years old and Irish. She was a Montessori teacher, and at that time in New York State, all teachers were required to be certified by NY. At the time of the baby’s death (found, asphyxiated in a waste basket in her convent room), police found ticket stubs and other information in her room indicating that she had traveled out of state to an educational conference to complete certification requirements.

During the trial, the father of the baby was never named. Also, during the trial, Sister Maureen denied she had given birth and could not remember being pregnant. She waived her right to a jury, and Judge Hyman Maas presided. There was some controversy about whether a Jewish Judge would give a Catholic nun a fair trial. It was over in ten days, and Maas found Sister Maureen innocent of all charges by reason of insanity in March 1977.

The girls’ high school near the convent, where many of the nuns taught, was called St. Agnes – now closed.