0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.
A religious festival celebrating motherhood had existed in Europe since Neolithic times. In the Roman religion the Hilaria festival was held in honour of the mother goddess Cybele and it took place during mid-March. As the Roman Empire and Europe converted to Christianity, this celebration became part of the liturgical calendar as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent to honour the Virgin Mary and the "mother church"[2].During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was either a large local church, or more often the nearest Cathedral.[1] Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this preceded the term Mothering Sunday is unclear. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since in other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours.By the third decade of the twentieth century, the custom of keeping Mothering Sunday had tended to lapse in Europe.[2] It was revived through the influence of American and Canadian soldiers serving abroad during World War II, who celebrated Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May.[2] People from Ireland and the UK started celebrating Mother's Day again, but on the same day Mothering Sunday had been celebrated before it fell into disuse, the fourth Sunday in Lent.[2]Mothering Sunday remains in the calendar of some Canadian Anglican churches, particularly those with strong English connections.
Wenchy would fight it for a Chocolate Egg that big.
