from Chronicles of Celtic Customs, by Brian Day
Mothering Sunday, Mid-Lent Sunday, Fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday
CELTIC. The Church custom of making donations to one's Mother Church on
this day of relaxation from abstinence expanded to include honouring
one's own mother, and young people such as servants and apprentices were
given the day off to visit their mother and take gifts for food and
spring flowers. The flowers were blessed in Church first, and it was
customary for the children to take on all their mother's chores for the
day. The custom lad lapsed by 1935, to be revived after World War II
through the influence of United States servicemen whose own Mother's Day
on the second Sunday in May had been instituted in the USA in 1907.
WALES. In the Welsh border area, Mothering Sunday was recorded as a
celebration in honour of Mother Church from the mid-17th century.
Later, servants and apprentices had a day off to visit their mothers
and take presents.
--
Pat Connors, Sacramento CA
http://www.connorsgenealogy.com
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