21 November 2008

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Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day

This year Mothering Sunday is on Sunday 18th March 2007 (the date changes each year).

The origin of Mother´s Day

Both the ancient Romans and Greeks celebrated  a spring festival to honour their gods; in Greece Rhea, the wife of Cronus was venerated and in Rome it was Cybele .The Romans enjoyed a three day festival called Hilaria.

The early Christian church adopted this time and opportunity of honouring the Mother figure and Mother Church replaced the goddesses .Custom began to dictate that a person visit the church of his or her baptism on this day. People attended the mother church of their parish laden with offerings.  
During the seventeenth century, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday", celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent also known as Mid–Lent Sunday. This date is half way between Shrove Tuesday and Good Friday.

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. Some would take a cake and often this would be a Simnel Cake; a very rich fruit cake. The Lenten fast dictated that the 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, coloured with saffron.

Sometimes Furmety was served – a sweetened boiled cereal dish made from wheat grains boiled in sweet milk which was sugared and spiced.

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

Yet another name for Mothering Sunday was Refreshment Sunday because delicacies given up for the rest of Lent could finally be enjoyed!

The custom of Mothering Sunday died out in Britain, but a similar "Mother´s Day" custom was established in the US in 1890 by a woman called Anna Jarvis. The custom became popular again in Britain after World War Two, following the example set by American soldiers who came to Britain during the war. In the UK it is again celebrated on the traditional date of Mothering Sunday (the fourth Sunday of Lent), while in the US it is celebrated in May.

In Spain the Mother´s Day is celebrated on 8th December, which is also the occasion of “The Feast of the Immaculate Conception”. Here the purpose is that not only mothers in one´s family are honoured but also Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus.  
 
In France the Mother´s Day – Fete des Meres is celebrated on the last Sunday of May. On this occasion people present a very special cake, which usually resembles a bouquet of flowers, to their mothers at a family dinner.

In Yugoslavia on "Materitse," Materice, or Mother´s Day, the children tie up their mother, releasing her only when she has paid them with sweets or other goodies.

In Sweden Mother´s Day is on the last Sunday in May and is a family holiday. The Swedish Red Cross sells small plastic flowers on the days leading up to Mother´s Day and the money raised from the sale of the flowers is used to help needy mothers and their children. 
 
Appreciate your mother!

Of course the commercial bandwagon gathers speed and churns out cards, bespoke lunches and many a gaudy gift…Yardley lavender soap may be appropriate for a certain generation but …

Home made cards are by far the most precious thing to receive from children of all ages especially when they are filled with exuberant messages of never–ending love and a hundred kisses.

Of course gifts and treats are always welcome but quite possibly it’s the gift of time which is the best. We all bemoan the lack of time in our lives and this is especially true when you have very young children. The idea of a day of doing just as you please can be very rejuvenating!

My vote would be for a day out doing something which I don’t often do and then return home to have supper – prepared by someone else – with my family. Serenity restored!