Mothering Sunday

English

Etymology

From the former British custom of visiting mother churches (q.v.) at Mid-Lent, which by the English Civil War had passed on to servants receiving leave to go a-mothering, visiting and providing small gifts to their families. Revived as a national tradition in the early 20th century after the model of Mother's Day in the United States.

Proper noun

Mothering Sunday

1. (UK) The fourth Sunday of Lent, three Sundays before Easter, now especially as a day to honor one's mother.
   • 1838, William Howitt, Rural Life in England, p. 159:

     ...on Mothering Sunday, when all the ‘servant-lads’ and ‘servant wenches’ are, in some parts of the country, set at liberty for a day, to go and see their mothers...

   • 1880, Arthur Joseph Munby, Dorothy, p. 66:

     Mary, it's twenty good year—twenty-one, come Mothering Sunday—'Since he was here at the farm.

   • 2007, Susan Elkin, 100 Ideas for Secondary School Assemblies, p. 12:

     Mothering Sunday is a British, Christian tradition. The Americans celebrate ‘Mother's Day’ later in the year.

Synonyms

• Mid-Lent, Mid-Lent Sunday
• Mothering Day, Mother's Day (UK & Ireland)
• Laetare Sunday (usual liturgical name in Catholicism & Anglicanism)
• Simnel Sunday, Refection Sunday, Refreshment Sunday (dated, in reference to the customary relaxation of Lenten abstention on this day)
• Rose Sunday, Sunday of the Five Loaves (dated, in reference to Catholic practices on this day)

References

• Howse, Christopher, "The True Origins of Mothering Sunday", The Telegraph (8 Mar 2013).
• “Mothering Sunday, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2002.
• “Mothering Sunday”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.