Mothering Sunday. A message from Revd. Rosemary

Mothering Sunday, March 15th this year, is one of the special days in the Church’s

calendar. It is always on the 4th Sunday of Lent, and gives a bit of respite from the

more serious aspects of the season. It grew from the ancient tradition of the Church

being our spiritual mother. Then, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,

many young people worked “in service”, living away from home, and having very

few, if any, days off. But on this one Sunday, they were allowed to go back to their

Mother Church, the one in which they had been baptised. Then they went home to

see their mothers, often taking little bunches of flowers they had picked on the way.

Now, it is a day to honour and say thank you, not just to our own mothers, but all

mother figures, such as grandmothers, step-mothers, foster mothers, adoptive

mothers and so on. If we can, we make the effort to visit or send a card or flowers,

as a token of our love and thanks, as they in turn reflect God’s love for us all.

It is a happy day, yes, but also bitter-sweet for many. So as we give thanks to God

for our family life and all whom we love, say a prayer as well for those who would

have loved to have a child, or those who have lost a child, and maybe take them a

bunch of flowers too, to show them they are not forgotten.

Have a very Happy Mothering Sunday.