This Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent, is Mothering Sunday. We know it as a day to thank God for the love of our mothers, and if we can thank them in person for their care for us. But its history is very different.
It began in the Middle Ages as a day when people were encouraged to ‘go mothering’ — that is, return to the church where they were baptised, their ‘mother church’. After the Reformation this stopped, but instead those in domestic service used the day to return home to visit church and family, picking flowers on the way to give to mothers and decorate the church.
Our modern ‘Mothers’ Day’ had very different origins! It was invented in 1914 by Anna Jarvis after her mother died, and in the USA it became a public holiday on 2nd May. It quickly became commercialised. Inspired by this, an Anglican called Constance Smith campaigned for a revival of Mothering Sunday in the Church of England. Today, the original link with our baptism has been completely forgotten, and it has become very commercialised.
At St Mary’s we will keep Mothering Sunday, but I am very mindful that not everyone has a mother to visit, or has had a loving mother. At the beginning of the service we will remember those for whom Mothering Sunday brings painful feelings.
with my prayers and blessings, Nicola