Mothering Sunday

Happy Mothering Sunday. :)  Confused? So was I.  It is also called Mother's day here, but it's origins are not the same.  If you look at history, Mothering Sunday came first, but not as it is known now.  The British will be quick to tell you it is not the same as the American holiday celebrated on the 2nd Sunday in May.  The American holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in 1914 declared by President Woodrow Wilson and it was set for the date in May because Anna's mother had died on May 9.  

Mothering Sunday roots are in religion.  It is the fourth Sunday of Lent and 3 weeks before Easter.  Originally in the 16th century it was when people would go back to their mother church either the Local parish, where the were christianed, or the cathedral.  Later when children worked as servants, it was this Sunday that they would be given off to go back to their mother church.  They would pick flowers along the way to give to the church or to their mothers at church.  It became a day that they would be able to go and visit their mothers and spend time with family.  

The tradition  faded and in 1921 Constance Penswick-Smith, inspired by Anna Jarvis in the US, started a resurgence of the tradition in the UK.   However, the Church of England and the Church of Ireland still maintained the practice of Mothering Sunday. Influenced by American and Canadian soldiers in WWII, Mothering Sunday was merged with the Catholic and secular practices to create what is practiced today.  It is celebrated much like Mother's Day in the US, but the day is still determined by Lent and Easter.  

So today, is Mothering Sunday.  The primary children sang at the beginning of Sacrament meeting (like they do in the US) then the children lined up a received a gift to give to their mums.  They also gave them to the rest of us who are mums but don't have little children. After church when I got to my friend's house for Sunday Tea (dinner) on the table was a card for me made by their daughter.  She had made one for her mum and then remember that I was coming and wouldn't have anything, so made me a sweet card to wish me a Happy Mothering day and then gave me a small bouquet of flowers as well.  Needless to say, I got teary eyed. It was all very sweet.  And to think, I get to celebrate again in May with my family! 

On a completely unrelated note, yesterday was our SuPhil Opera Chorus concert.  We had a sold out crowd!  It went really well and was fun to sing.  Like I mentioned before, we sang in Russian, German, Italian, and French.  It was refreshing to me that we had an educated audience.  At the end of the concert no one stood, but we went through three rounds of bows!  So the soloists came out, bowed, the conductor bowed.  He stood the orchestra and then stood the choir.  The soloists and conductor went off stage, we sat down, the audience continued to applaud, so they did it all again, three times.  No one felt the need to stand, because well it wasn't an ovation performance, but obviously it was very well received.  Just wanted to share that...

So go and listen to some Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner, or Puccini opera chorus and think about what you missed... ;)  

Have a Happy Mothering Sunday.  Take time to let the mother's in your life know how much you appreciate them.  I know most of you will do that in May, but really can you thank your mum enough?