MOTHERING SUNDAY- LET US REJOICE

 

Tomorrow is LAETARE SUNDAY, which is a day of celebration, within the austere period of Lent. This Sunday gets its name from the first few words of the traditional Latin entrance (Introit) for the Mass of the day. "Laetare Jerusalem" ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem")  from Isaiah 66:10.

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her,
    all you who mourn over her.
For you will nurse and be satisfied
    at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply
    and delight in her overflowing abundance.”

It is also known as Refreshment Sunday (because the fast is relaxed) , mid-Lent Sunday and Rose Sunday, either because the golden roses sent by Popes to Catholic sovereigns used to be blessed at this time, or because the use of rose-colored, rather than violet vestments, is permitted on this day. 

This Sunday is also known as Mothering Sunday, and the peoples of the British Isles celebrate it as Mother’s Day.

It was also traditionally, a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.

On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the sacrament of baptism.  Constance Adelaide Smith (d. 1938) revived its modern observance beginning in 1913 to honor Mother Church, mothers of earthly homes, and Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Constance was inspired by a newspaper article in 1913, on the plans of Anna Jarvis, an American woman from Philadelphia, who hoped to introduce Mother's Day in the USA.  In 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson made a proclamation establishing the second Sunday of May as the official date for the observance of a national day to celebrate mothers.

Charles W Bartlett (1920)

Constance instead linked this concept to the Mothering Sunday, traditionally observed in the Anglican liturgical calendar on the fourth Sunday of Lent according to her study of on medieval traditions  (the Mass in the Middle Ages, appearing in the lectionary in sources as old as the Murback Lectionary  from the 8th century.  These include several references to mothers and metaphors for mothers.

Whatever we call this day- it is indeed a day to rejoice, not only to "relax", but to be grateful for our mothers, most especially the Mother of our Church.