The Patron Of Santa Thomasina

 The Flying Nun 113 The Patron Of Santa Thomasina

The Flying Nun is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, written by Tere Rios. Sally Field starred as the title character, Sister Bertrille.

The series originally ran on ABC from September 7, 1967, to April 3, 1970, producing 82 episodes, including a one-hour pilot episode.

Developed by Bernard Slade, the series centered on the adventures of a community of nuns in the Convent San Tanco in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The series focuses on Sister Bertrille, a young, idealistic novice nun who discovers she can fly, whose order teaches largely underprivileged and orphaned children and assists the poor of a diverse Hispanic community (a rare setting for American network TV in the era).

In the hour-long series pilot, Chicago native Elsie Ethrington arrives in San Juan from New York City after her arrest for having been involved in a free speech protest; she then adopts the name of Sister Bertrille. It is also later learned (in the episode "My Sister, The Sister") that Sister Bertrille comes from a family of physicians, and that she is the only member of that family who did not follow in their footsteps. She instead became a nun, joining the Convent San Tanco, after being impressed by the missionary work of her aunt, and broke up with her toy salesman boyfriend of eight months.

Sister Bertrille could be relied upon to solve any problem that came her way by her ability to catch a passing breeze and fly. This was generally attributed to her weighing under 90 pounds (41 kg), high winds at the Convent high on the ocean bluffs, and the large, heavily starched cornette that was the headpiece for her habit (The cornette was based on one worn until the middle 1960s by the Daughters of Charity, although Sister Bertrille was never said to belong to that order.[1] Indeed, the order which included the Convent San Tanco was never actually specified in the series.). Her flying talents could cause as many problems as they solved, per the sitcom format, but she most often used her gift to help people, or at least with good intentions.