Mothering Sunday in the UK
Mothering Sunday is the equivalent of Mother’s Day, originally known as ‘Refreshment Sunday’ or ‘Mid-Lent Sunday’, the date of which (since the 16th Century) has been the fourth Sunday of Lent (between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday) and is celebrated in the same way as Mother’s Day is around the world.
Mother’s Day Around the World
In 1908 an American woman called Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in West Virginia. She then began a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognised holiday in the USA, specifically noting that “Mother’s” should be a singular possessive for each family to honour its mother, not plural possessive commemorating all mothers of the world.
By writing letters to congressmen, businessmen and ministers asking for this day to be made a public holiday Anna Jarvis succeeded in raising enough attention for this new celebration for the traditions to be followed even to this day.
In the letters Anna Jarvis wrote to these individuals, she included a single white carnation. In the years following the growth in popularity for Mother's Day, Mother's would wear a single carnation; white if their Mother had passed away and coloured if they were still living.
Mother's Day is now recognised around the world and is a day on which to give gifts, flowers or cards to mothers, grandmothers and/or maternal figures.
