The Testament Of Mary

All my life I have loved the Sabbath.
So begins Colm Toibin’s devastating novella The Testament of Mary

My son was wearing rich clothes and he was moving as though the clothes belonged to him as of right…
I held him to me and I whispered:
You are in great danger. You are being watched
…
Even before I had finished speaking, he had moved away from me.
Woman, what have I to do with thee,
he said and then again louder so that it was heard all around. “Woman, what have I to do with thee.”
I am your mother,
I said. But by this time he had begun to talk to others, high flown talk and riddles, using strange proud terms to describe himself and his task in the world. I heard him saying – I heard it then and I noticed how heads bowed all around when he said it – I heard him saying that he was the son of God.