Do you know the history of Mothering Sunday?

 

What is the history of Mother's Day?

In the UK, it is believed that the tradition of Mothering Sunday evolved from a 16th century religious practice of visiting your "mother church" once a year.

Most people would regularly attend their nearest parish, known as the "daughter church". It was considered vital that churchgoers make an annual visit to the main parish in their area, and this generally happened in the middle of Lent.

In those days, children as young as 10 were known to leave home for work, but they would be given the day off in order to return to their mother church, so the event usually became a family reunion.

Chiildren would generally pick flowers along the way, to give to their mothers when they arrived home. It is believed that this is how the tradition of giving presents to mothers came about.

From its religious roots, Mother's Day has now become a day of celebration, where mums are given flowers and other gifts from their offspring as an expression of thanks.