Mother's Day versus Mothering Sunday
We have less than a week now for Mother's Day here in the UK. But who actually knew that this Sunday is really called Mothering Sunday?
My time here as an American student has been an interesting journey. I have learned much about myself and the existing culture here in the UK/Norfolk. One of those learning processes is the ability to navigate my own culture in a new one, but also how to recognise the similarities between the two, as the US is very much indebted to UK traditions and customs. As Mother's Day is here this coming Sunday, I thought it would be interesting to illustrate how these two traditions, though essentially the same, had vastly different foundings.
According to wikipedia.org, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent and was a time when people returned to their 'Mother Church' during the 16th Century. Eventually, this tradition evolved into a holiday for servants so that they too could return to their 'Mother Church', often accompanying their own mothers and families.
My time here as an American student has been an interesting journey. I have learned much about myself and the existing culture here in the UK/Norfolk. One of those learning processes is the ability to navigate my own culture in a new one, but also how to recognise the similarities between the two, as the US is very much indebted to UK traditions and customs. As Mother's Day is here this coming Sunday, I thought it would be interesting to illustrate how these two traditions, though essentially the same, had vastly different foundings.
Mothering Sunday
According to wikipedia.org, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent and was a time when people returned to their 'Mother Church' during the 16th Century. Eventually, this tradition evolved into a holiday for servants so that they too could return to their 'Mother Church', often accompanying their own mothers and families.
Mother's Day
Fast Forward to the early 1900s, and a woman named Anna Jarvis decided to incite a nationally recognised holliday in the US to recognise, celebrate and commemorate mothers all around America. The holliday took off and was adapted all around the US, eventually becoming a commercial success by 1920 (that's when all the Mother's Day cards came in... Thanks Hallmark!).
The Two Meet
As the holliday became a roaring success in America, it moved to the rest of the world and is celebrated on different dates. That's why, when I moved here, and Mother's Day was not celebrated on the second Sunday in May, it left me a bit confused. However, the reason Mothering Sunday and Mother's Day merged is that the former was a religious recognition of the church, which technically already celebrated mothers and the latter is technically a secular holliday. Naturally, the logic being, let's celebrate them together. Hence, Mother's Day on the 4th Sunday of Lent!
Culture. Forever fascinating and forever a learning experience.
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