The Fourth Sunday in Lent - Mothering Sunday
The fourth Sunday in Lent has its own interesting history. Recently it has come to be conflated with “Mother’s Day” as originally made popular in the United States, Canada and other countries, but it has not always been like that.
In past centuries when many young people and even children were away from home as apprentices or domestic servants, they were allowed to return home for the 4th Sunday in Lent to their families, and also to their “mother” church, and it is the visit to church that led to the name Mothering Sunday. Christians generally might attempt to return to their own “mother” church, where they had been baptised, on this occasion.
As the 4th Sunday in Lent is also near the middle of the season, it was also seen as a necessary break, or time to “lighten up” the penances and fasting of Lent, and to celebrate a little amid the general austerity of Lent and the early spring when the new food has barely begun to grow in the fields. Because the liturgy included a prayer beginning, “Rejoice!’ or “Laetare” in Latin, this Sunday was sometimes called Laetare Sunday. Yet another possible name is Refreshment Sunday.
You can’t really “wander lonely as a cloud” along Hillside, Stonebridge, but we do have some daffodils.
In our services we shall be reading about famous mothers and children from the Bible, including Mary the mother of Jesus. There will be an opportunity to think of all those who have loved, guided and nurtured us, especially as children.
This time of year may be hard for some: there are people whose mothers let them down, people who could not have children, and those whose mothers or children have died. We take care to remember those we can recall in love and to comfort those whose feelings include grief. This year in particular there will be more empty places as we regroup after the ravages of the pandemic.
There are other days on which the church recalls loving families and also the pains and bereavements that are an inevitable accompaniment to our love. The Church of England keeps these feast days for the Virgin Mary:
February 2 Purification of the Blessed Virgin
March 25 Annunciation of Our Saviour to the Blessed Virgin Mary
May 31 Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 15 The Blessed Virgin Mary
September 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8 Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
We also celebrate the feast of St Joseph, husband to Mary and father figure to Jesus, on 19th March. On the Sunday after the Epiphany we recall the Holy Family as a model for the Christian family today.
So there are many opportunities to reflect on how our family structures should be modelled upon and celebrate those of Our Lady, Joseph and Jesus Christ, and also we recall those in the Bible who had difficulty having children whose prayers were answered by God.
Tea and cake, anyone?
Sadly we cannot serve refreshments in church at the moment. But there is a traditional cake for Mothering Sunday, now sometimes seen at Easter instead, the Simnel Cake. It’s a light fruit cake covered in marzipan, and its distinguishing feature is a ring of eleven marzipan balls representing the eleven surviving apostles.
