>[bold]When is Mothering Sunday[/bold]?

I have always been rather irritated by the (widely held)view that Mothering Sunday is a put-up job by the greetings card business.

My father talks about "Mothering Sunday" as mid-lent Sunday (one of the reasons why the date moves around) as the day that they would have had Simnel cake.

Although the flower business does very well out of Mothers Day, churches and schools tend to stick to handing out home-grown daffodils, brought in by the parishoners, as they are plentiful at that time of year. This year, my daughter's school class took daffodils from the garden into the local hospital.

The BBC Website gives a good description of the origins:
History of Mothering Sunday
Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in England worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church".

Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother" church, or the main church or Cathedral of the area.

Inevitably the return to the "mother" church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.)

And most historians think that it was the return to the "Mother" church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.

A Foodie Festival
Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday because the fasting rules for Lent were relaxed that day.

Originally both Old and New testament lessons on mid-lent Sunday made a point of food.

Simnel Cake
The food item specially associated with Mothering Sunday is the Simnel Cake.

A Simnel cake is a fruit cake with two layers of almond paste, one on top and one in the middle.

The cake is made with 11 balls of marzipan icing on top representing the 11 disciples. (Judas is not included). Traditionally, sugar violets would also be added.

also see: http://www.hwatson.force9.co.uk/cookbook/recipes/baking/simnel.htmfor photo and http://www.anglicancatholic.org/liturgy/simnel~1.htm[/url] for other recipes (sorry Anna!)

If the following site http://www.21stcenturyplaza.com/taste/mothers.html is accurate. The celebration of "Mothers Day" in the USA dates back to 1908


INTEREST STARTS IN THE UNITED STATES
Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) is credited with originating our Mother's Day holiday. She never married and was extremely attached to her mother, Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis. Mrs. Jarvis was a minister's daughter who for 20 years taught Sunday School in the Andrews Methodist Church of Grafton, West Virginia. Miss Jarvis graduated from the Female Seminary in Wheeling, West Virginia, and taught in Grafton before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the rest of her family.

Anna Reese Jarvis died in Philadelphia in May of 1905. Still unmarried and left alone with her blind sister Elsinore, Anna missed her mother greatly. Two years after her mother's death (1907) Anna Jarvis and her friends began a letter-writing campaign to gain the support of influential ministers, businessmen and congressmen in declaring a national Mother's Day holiday. She felt children often neglected to appreciate their mother enough while the mother was still alive. She hoped Mother's Day would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.

THE FIRST MOTHER'S DAY
The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis, held at Anna Jarvis's request in Grafton, West Virginia, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1908.

Carnations, her mother's favorite flowers, were supplied at that first service by Miss Jarvis. White carnations were chosen because they represented the sweetness, purity and endurance of mother love. Red carnations, in time, became the symbol of a living mother. White ones now signify that one's mother has died.

OTHER MOTHER'S DAY OBSERVANCES
The first Mother's Day proclamation was issued by the governor of West Virginia in 1910. Oklahoma celebrated Mother's Day that year as well. By 1911 every state had its own observances. By then other areas celebrating Mother's Day included Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, South America and Africa. The Mother's Day International Association was incorporated on December 12, 1912, with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother's Day.

OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION
The House of Representatives in May, 1913, unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the President, his Cabinet, members of Congress, and all officials of the federal government to wear a white carnation on Mother's Day. Congress passed another Joint Resolution May 8, 1914, designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. The U.S. flag is to be displayed on government buildings and at people's homes "as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country." President Woodrow Wilson issued the first proclamation making Mother's Day an official national holiday.

There is a similar history of Fathers Day at http://www.splash-frames.co.uk/pages/fathers_day.htm