Mothering Sunday Vs. Mother's Day - What's in a Name?

The tradition of a special day to honour your mother could go back to when the Romans honoured their goddess of motherhood in the Spring with the feast of Matronalia. Or, it could have emerged from the custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Mother worship, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of gods, and Rhea, the wife of Cronus, was held on March 15 to March 18 around Asia Minor. 

However, Mothering Sunday, otherwise known as Mother's Day, has been celebrated in Britain on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the 16th century. 

The custom possibly originated in the church festival of "Refreshment Sunday" when everyone was expected to revisit the church in which they were baptised, their "mother church", which of course meant they usually got to see there mums again!

It is a small step from honouring Mother Church to honouring our natural mothers and so in the mid-17th Century the custom grew of children paying special tribute to their mothers on this day.

Mothering Sunday became more established by the 18^th and 19^th Centuries when many people worked away from home as servants to the rich and wealthy (especially girls in service such as cooks and maids), they would be allowed to go home for the day to visit their home church and so naturally they visited their families. 

By the 1920's and '30s, the centuries-old traditions of Mothering Sunday had started to fade in the UK. Then along came World War II. During those dark and trying days, North American soldiers - lonely and missing their girlfriends, wives and mums - revived interest in Mothering Sunday by celebrating their own version of this day: "Mother's Day." 

Reminded by visiting soldiers of just how special this day still was, UK families once again began celebrating Mothering Sunday with enthusiasm.

Nowadays the greeting card industry makes a fortune and it is more usual for families to get together and take their mother out for a meal in a restaurant - booking is advisable!  Or buy chocolates and flowers (the price of flowers goes through the roof).

 It is also common for the younger children to prepare their mother breakfast in bed, and the mother must eat it no matter how badly burnt the toast is, or how cold the tea is! 

Today, Mothering Sunday in the UK is often called "Mother's Day" and is regarded as more or less synonymous with "Mother's Day" as celebrated in other countries around the world, though many still prefer the more historically accurate "Mothering Sunday."

What do you think? Is it time to change the name of this day from "Mothering Sunday" to "Mother's Day"?