Maria : Roman

Rooted in scholarship, in thorough absorption in place and period, this story of the Mother of Jesus succeeds in keeping Mary (or Miriam as she is called in the Hebrew tradition) at the core, the heart of the whole. We first meet her when Joseph, returning from the self-imposed exile his branch of

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the family endured, to Nazareth, seeking a wife from the House of David, meets her and asks her hand. Almost simultaneously there comes to her the revelation of the role she is chosen to play- and in very human terms, the challenge, the exaltation, the inevitable repercussions and attendant problems are presented. Joseph stands by his determination to make her his wife, and sees himself- for the period of her carrying the child destined to become the Messiah, as her protector and guardian. Then come the years of Jesus' childhood, his place in the school, in the village, in the family; his first journey to Jerusalem where he accepts the mission that is to be his; his earthly father's death and his period of waiting for the voice in the wilderness. Finally, his brief months of fulfilling the pledge with its attendant sorrow, joy, acceptance, rejection -- death and resurrection. But always the story is told in terms of Mary, his mother, and her maternal and human devotion is shown in conflict with her recognition of the sacrifice she must make in the cause of God and all humanity.

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