Mothering Sunday

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Dates for Mothering Sunday, 2004-2010

2004: March 21
2005: March 6
2006: March 26
2007: March 18
2008: March 2
2009: March 22
2010: March 14

In contrast to Mother's Day, Mothering Sunday is not a celebration of motherhood, but a synonym of Laetare Sunday. During the 16th century, people returned to their "mother church" for a service to be held on the 4th Sunday of Lent. This was either a large local church, or more often the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone 'a-mothering' although whether this preceded the term Mothering Sunday is unclear. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, if prevented by conflicting working hours.

The other names attributed to this festival include Simnel Sunday, Refreshment Sunday and Rose Sunday. This is due to the practice of baking Simnel cakes to celebrate the reuniting of families during the austerity of Lent. Because there is traditionally a lightening of Lenten vows on this particular Sunday in celebration of the fellowship of family and church, the lesser-used label of Refreshment Sunday is also used, although rarely today.

Rose Sunday is sometimes used as an alternate title for Mothering Sunday as well, as is witnessed by the purple robes of Lent being replaced in some churches by rose coloured ones. This title refers to the tradition of posies of flowers being collected and distributed at the service originally to all the mothers, but latterly to all women in the congregation. The Catholic Encyclopedia, however, asserts that "the Golden Rose, sent by the popes to Catholic sovereigns, used to be blessed at this time, and for this reason the day was sometimes called 'Dominica de Rosa'".

Another tradition associated with Mothering Sunday is the practice of 'church clipping' whereby the congregation form a ring around their church building and holding hands, embrace it.

For some Church of England churches, it is the only day in Lent when marriages can be celebrated.

In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and other family members. In today's more secular times, it is generally celebrated as the British equivalent of America's Mother's Day.

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