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The story and sentiments of Mothering
Sunday
In the 16th century,
the Church required that the people returned to their ‘mother’
church or cathedral
on the fourth Sunday
in Lent for that day’s service.
The day became
known as Mothering Sunday, not through association with Mothers,
but because of
the journey made to the ‘mother’ church.
In an age when
children as young as ten left home to take up work or apprenticeships
elsewhere,
this was often
the only day in the whole year when families would be reunited.
By the 17th century,
it had become a public holiday,
when servants and
apprentices were given the day off so that they could fulfill
their duties to the Church.
They often brought
gifts of flowers and a special cake for their Mothers.
The cake, made
of a fine wheaten flower, called simila in Latin, has evolved
into the traditional Simnel cake.
It is decorated
with eleven balls of marzipan, representing the Apostles (excluding
Judas).
A folk tale has
a different explanation for the origin of the name.
A man called Simon
and his wife, Nell, were arguing over how to make the cake –
should it be baked or boiled?
They resolved the
matter by doing both and the cake is called SIM-NEL after them.
In recent times,
Mothering Sunday has become more like the American Mother's Day
with offspring
expected to give
presents and cards to their Mothers. The original meaning has
been largely lost.
This custom never
made its way to America and after the Civil War,
a number of women
campaigned to instigate a Mother’s Day there.
In 1872, Julia
Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the ‘Battle Hymn of the
Republic’)
attempted to instigate
a day dedicated to Peace which would be called ‘Mother’s
Day’.
An incident in
1877 helped the campaign when Mrs. Juliet Calhoun Blakely took
over the service
in her local church
after the pastor had to leave suddenly.
It was her birthday,
11th May, and her adult sons were present.
They were impressed
by their Mother’s performance and promised to return to
Albion,
Michigan every
year to honour their Mother.
They also campaigned
among business associates
and friends to
join them in setting aside a special day for Mothers.
But it was to be
many years before the custom was officially recognised.
It took the efforts
of another woman, Anna Jarvis, to finally bring about acceptance.
Anna’s Mother
had herself been an advocate and campaigner for the establishment
of a ‘Mother’s
Friendship Day’ after the ravages of the Civil War. In 1907,
Anna held a ceremony
in Grafton, West Virginia to commemorate her Mother.
This was also on
the second Sunday in May (the second anniversary of her Mother’s
death).
Anna then began
to campaign to have the day established as Mother’s Day.
By 1911, several
states had recognised the day and in 1914,
President Woodrow
Wilson officially declared the day as a national holiday.
However, the commercialisation
of the holiday began almost immediately
and so angered
Anna Jarvis that, in 1923,
she filed a lawsuit
to try to stop a Mother’s Day celebration and was even arrested
for
breach of the peace
when she attempted to stop the selling of carnations on the day.
Anna Jarvis died
in 1948, at the age of 84, bitter and angry over what had been
done with Mother’s Day
She had spent her
inheritance (from her own mother)
on trying to halt
the commercialisation of the holiday she had done so much to
create.
For those of you
who wish to bake a traditional Simnel cake, click here.  
Mother's Day is
now celebrated on different dates around the world.
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