M ther’s Day and M thering Sunday

Did you know that Mother’s Day an Mothering Sunday began life as two very different cele aɵons? Mothering Sunday had nothing to do with mot rs.

During the 16th century, people in the UK would return to their ‘mother church’ for a service on the 4th S ndayoflent,anyone who did this was commonly said to have g e “a-mothering”, Employers would grant leave to employee and servants to enable them to aʃend this service and it was oōen the only occasion that whole families would get together. Children who had been given Ɵme off would gather wildflowers on their way, to place in the church or to give to their mothers. In Ɵme mothering, became less about religion and more about acknowled ng mothers, however by t t s tra n gun to wan

In May 1908, in the USA the first official Mother’s Day was observed in the form of a memorial held at a church in West Virginia, it was organised by a lady named Anna Jarvis to onour her own mother who had passed away in 1905. Anna campaigned to have a Mother’s Day observed annually, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamaɵon establishing the sec d Sunday in May at the official Mother’s Day.

Inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts, a lady na d Constance Penswicksmith in the UK created the Mothering Su ay Movement, in a quest to revive the fesɵval here in the UK. The influence of this movement along with new tradiɵons that were introduced to the UK by American soldiers serving here duri World War II became celebrate Mother’s Day in March, on the h Sunday of Lent, the original Mothering Sunday, merging the t tradiɵons. Mother’s Day really took off in the 1950s, iven by retailers who had realised the commercial potenɵal of ther’s Day and had begun to promote it relentlessly.

Mother’s Day here at Canterbury House is a very special occasion, it was lovely to see our children and to take a moment to reflect fondly on the memories we have of our o mothers. We were treated to a wonderful aōernoon tea of sandwiches and cake, all washed down with a liʃle sherry or two. received bouquets of daffodils and chocolates, there were deco aɵons and balloons, it was a wonderful celebraɵon, we were thoroughly spoiled.