Do you refer to it as Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day?

Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day is always on the fourth Sunday of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday and usually in the second half of March or early April. But does the name of the day matter to you?

The day has long been associated with mothers and family. For centuries it was custom for people to return home to their ‘mother’ church on Laetare Sunday – the middle of Lent. Those who did so were said to have gone ‘a-mothering’.

The day often turned into a family reunion and a chance for children working away from home – often young domestic servants – to spend time with their mothers. Many used to pick flowers from the verges along the way to leave in the church or hand to their mothers when they got home.

The day is now seen as a celebration of mothers and the maternal bond and traditionally children give flowers, presents and cards to their mothers, and other maternal figures such as grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law.

It is increasingly being called Mother’s Day, although that has always been a secular event quite different from the original Mothering Sunday. In the UK and the Republic of Ireland, Mothering Sunday is celebrated in the same way as Mother’s Day is celebrated elsewhere.

The day has also become very commercialised too, and some may feel that Mother’s Day has lost its true meaning.

What are your views – does the name matter to you? Which name do you and your family use?