Mother's Day History
History of Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday was originally celebrated in the
Mother Mary, but now it is to honor all mothers. Traditionally, it 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. Today it is a day
when children give presents, flowers, and home-made cards to their mothers.
Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in
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 - 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.
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.
Why Simnel?
The name Simnel probably comes from the Latin word simila which means
a fine wheat flour usually used for baking a cake. There's a legend that
a man called Simon and his wife Nell argued over whether the cake for Mothering
Sunday should be baked or boiled. In the end they did both, so the cake was
named after both of them: SIM-NELL.
as a national day to honor mothers in 1914. Anna Jarvis is one of the women
remembered as playing a significant role in helping to start the holiday. Her
mother inspired her to make the day official. The elder Jarvis thought that the
day would help Americans to recover and heal from the brutal pain and
turbulence that remained in the land following the Civil War. After she died,
her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took the baton and worked until the holiday was made
official.
It is because of Anna Jarvis, Anna’s mother and countless
other women who made it known that mothers deserved to be acknowledged for the
immeasurable contributions they make to their children, families, communities,
nations and the world at large, that sons and daughters will pause to remember
their mothers. A mother’s care begins at conception and endures throughout the
course of a child’s life.
Throughout communities and towns, mothers do the work that
strengthens and empowers families and nations every day of the year, hour after
hour. They read to their toddlers at night, sit on school boards, start and run
their own businesses, see to the upkeep of their homes, tend to their
automobiles and cook five-star chefs under the table. It is impossible to place
a value on the protection, care, love, tenderness, guidance and support
received from a mother. It is a reason millions do so much on the second Sunday
in May.