While the roots of Mothering Sunday in the UK extend to ancient Greek and Roman festivals honoring Rhea and Cybele, mother goddesses, by the 17th century, the spread of Christianity was absorbing and adapting the religious and cultural traditions of the ancient world. The Hilaria celebrations, the annual spring festival dedicated to maternal goddesses and honoring Rhea, became absorbed into Laetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Lent.
Here, a temporal shift takes place as the focus of maternal celebrations evolves from the ancient world’s symbolic and spiritual worship of goddesses, to a more human level as the Virgin Mary and the "Mother Church" were being worshipped. On this day, people generally visited their local church or cathedral, their Mother Church, often where they were baptised, and this maternal pilgrimage became known as going “a-mothering.”
When a clerical decree expanded the celebration to include real individual mothers, the day’s name was set as "Mothering Day.” After attending the prayer service to honor their Mother Church and the Virgin Mary, children honored their own mothers by giving them gifts and flowers. Over time, however, the 4th Sunday in Lent became known as “Mothering Sunday.”
The Name
It is not entirely certain how the divergence in the names “Mothering Day” and “Mothering Sunday” came about, but it seems that a number of religious and cultural traditions from various eras such as the ancient world and its goddess worship, to the spread of modern Christianity and its human individual focus played vital roles. Today, both names are acceptable, although some still favor the more historically-accurate "Mothering Sunday."
Mothering Sunday and the Working Class
England’s working-class servants, apprentices and employees in general, in some cases, were only granted one day off a year to visit their families, and that happened to take place on Mothering Sunday. This day took on a huge significance as a day of travel (many worked away from home), rest, reunion and worship. The day also provided a break from the fasting and penance of Lent as the rules were relaxed to honor the biblical story of "The Feeding of the Five Thousand" (Matthew 14:13-21).
An interesting tradition developed as young servants, when returning home, were often allowed to bake and take a cake home to their mothers, the most common of which was a type of fruit cake called a Simnel cake. Keeping with the flow of religious influence on Mothering Sunday, Simnel cakes were topped with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles, minus Judas, of course.
The Rebirth of Mothering Sunday
By the early 20th century in the UK, the tradition of celebrating Mothering Sunday was fading into the past. The arrival of World War II brought dark times and with them American soldiers equally troubled by wartime misery. Lonely and longing for home, these soldiers breathed some life into the ailing tradition of Mothering Sunday by celebrating and promoting their own version: Mother’s Day.
After this, UK families enthusiastically revived their Mothering Sunday celebrations while remaining true to their own historical roots by keeping the date as the 4th Sunday in Lent.
Mothering Sunday/Mother’s Day Today
Currently, Mother’s Day is celebrated in several countries: UK, U.S., Canada, India, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, China, Japan and Belgium. The phone traffic generated on Mother’s Day is one of the highest of the entire year, and after Valentine’s Day and Christmas, in many countries, it’s the most popular celebration. Sales of greeting cards and flowers break records, while restaurants enjoy one of their busiest days of the year.
Thanks to Anna Jarvis, carnations still have a special place in the history of Mother’s Day as they have come to represent the truth, purity and longevity of motherly love. Red and pink carnations, over time, became the symbol for living mothers, while white represent those that have departed.
Despite the complex history of Mother's Day and the vastness of cultures it is practiced across, the underlying message of honoring the maternal spirit is clear as, "The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new" (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh).
Author Twinkle Brar
Here, a temporal shift takes place as the focus of maternal celebrations evolves from the ancient world’s symbolic and spiritual worship of goddesses, to a more human level as the Virgin Mary and the "Mother Church" were being worshipped. On this day, people generally visited their local church or cathedral, their Mother Church, often where they were baptised, and this maternal pilgrimage became known as going “a-mothering.”
When a clerical decree expanded the celebration to include real individual mothers, the day’s name was set as "Mothering Day.” After attending the prayer service to honor their Mother Church and the Virgin Mary, children honored their own mothers by giving them gifts and flowers. Over time, however, the 4th Sunday in Lent became known as “Mothering Sunday.”
The Name
It is not entirely certain how the divergence in the names “Mothering Day” and “Mothering Sunday” came about, but it seems that a number of religious and cultural traditions from various eras such as the ancient world and its goddess worship, to the spread of modern Christianity and its human individual focus played vital roles. Today, both names are acceptable, although some still favor the more historically-accurate "Mothering Sunday."
Mothering Sunday and the Working Class
England’s working-class servants, apprentices and employees in general, in some cases, were only granted one day off a year to visit their families, and that happened to take place on Mothering Sunday. This day took on a huge significance as a day of travel (many worked away from home), rest, reunion and worship. The day also provided a break from the fasting and penance of Lent as the rules were relaxed to honor the biblical story of "The Feeding of the Five Thousand" (Matthew 14:13-21).
An interesting tradition developed as young servants, when returning home, were often allowed to bake and take a cake home to their mothers, the most common of which was a type of fruit cake called a Simnel cake. Keeping with the flow of religious influence on Mothering Sunday, Simnel cakes were topped with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles, minus Judas, of course.
The Rebirth of Mothering Sunday
By the early 20th century in the UK, the tradition of celebrating Mothering Sunday was fading into the past. The arrival of World War II brought dark times and with them American soldiers equally troubled by wartime misery. Lonely and longing for home, these soldiers breathed some life into the ailing tradition of Mothering Sunday by celebrating and promoting their own version: Mother’s Day.
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After this, UK families enthusiastically revived their Mothering Sunday celebrations while remaining true to their own historical roots by keeping the date as the 4th Sunday in Lent.
Mothering Sunday/Mother’s Day Today
Currently, Mother’s Day is celebrated in several countries: UK, U.S., Canada, India, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, China, Japan and Belgium. The phone traffic generated on Mother’s Day is one of the highest of the entire year, and after Valentine’s Day and Christmas, in many countries, it’s the most popular celebration. Sales of greeting cards and flowers break records, while restaurants enjoy one of their busiest days of the year.
Thanks to Anna Jarvis, carnations still have a special place in the history of Mother’s Day as they have come to represent the truth, purity and longevity of motherly love. Red and pink carnations, over time, became the symbol for living mothers, while white represent those that have departed.
Despite the complex history of Mother's Day and the vastness of cultures it is practiced across, the underlying message of honoring the maternal spirit is clear as, "The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new" (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh).
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Author Twinkle Brar
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