Mothering Sunday

Not to be confused with Mothers Day

Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Often called "Mothers Day" it has no connection with the American festival of that name which is celebrated in May.

Fourth Sunday in Lent

During the seventeenth century, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday", celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent (also known as Mid-Lent Sunday). "Mothering Sunday" honoured the mothers of England. As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honour the "Mother Church" , the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm.

Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honouring their mothers as well as the church. During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy.

Traditionally, Mothering Sunday was a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.

Today Mothering Sunday is a day when children give flowers  and cards to their mothers

Early Mother's Day Celebrations.

Some historians claim that the predecessor of the Mother's Day holiday was the ancient spring festival dedicated to mother goddesses.  In the ancient Greek empire the spring festival honoured Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of the gods and goddesses.  In Rome the most significant Mother's Day-like festival was dedicated to the worship of Cybele, another mother goddess.  Ceremonies in her honour began some 250 years before Christ was born.  This Roman religious celebration, known as Hilaria, lasted for three days - from March 15 to 18!

Mothering Sunday

More like the modern celebration of Mother's Day is England's "Mothering Sunday", also called Mid-Lent Sunday  observed on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Some say the ceremonies in honour of Cybele were adopted by the early church to venerate the Mother of Christ, Mary. Others believe the Mother Church was substituted for mother goddess and custom began to dictate that a person visit the church of his/her baptism on this day. People attended the mother church of their parish, laden with offerings.

Also in England in the 1600's, young men and women who were apprentices or servants returned home on Mothering Sunday  bringing to their mothers small gifts like trinkets or a "mothering cake". Sometimes furmety was served - wheat grains boiled in sweet milk, sugared and spiced.

In northern England and in Scotland, the preferred refreshments were carlings - pancakes made of steeped pease fried in butter, with pepper and salt. In fact, in some locations this day was called Carling Sunday.

Another kind of mothering cake was the simnel cake, a very rich fruit cake. The Lenten fast dictated that the simnel cake had to keep until Easter. It was boiled in water, then baked, and was often finished with an almond icing. Sometimes the crust was of flour and water, collared with saffron.

In the church calendar, Mothering Sunday or Mid-Lent Sunday as it is also known, commemorates the banquet given by Joseph to his brethren.

Nowadays gifts are still given to the mothers but in other respects, Mothering Sunday is little different from the secular Mother's Day, which in the United States, Australia and many other countries, is the second Sunday of May.