Christian Year

MOTHERING SUNDAY

Mothering Sunday is sometimes called “Mid-Lent Sunday” as it is the fourth Sunday in Lent and so comes half-way through that period.

The word “mothering” in the name seems originally to have referred to the “Mother Church”. Long ago, young people in rural areas were often sent to work in large country houses and estates. In the middle of Lent, they were allowed to go to visit their families. They would attend their Mother Church, that is the church in which they were brought up.