Anybody who believes that the Anglican Church resists change, by and large, does not know the story of the evolution of Mothering Sunday, and thereby hangs a tale. I hope with this article to set the record straight because the initial reason for declaring the fourth Sunday of Lent as Mothering Sunday has little or nothing to do with our mothers and everything to do with the Church.
Mothering Sunday (also known as Laetare or Refreshment Sunday) has its origins in the mediaeval church, when the fourth Sunday of Lent (roughly halfway between Ash Wednesday and Easter) was set aside to give people a break from observing the strict Lenten fast. Laetare means ‘Rejoice,’ and special attention was paid to Mary, the Mother of God on this day.
With the Reformation in the mid-16th century, the emphasis switched from honouring Mary to encouraging the faithful to visit either the parish church where they had been baptized or the Diocesan Cathedral, the Mother Church of the Diocese. Around this time, the priests of the Church adopted the practice of wearing rose-coloured vestments on Mothering Sunday, as some still do on the third Sunday in Advent, and Lent 4 became Rose Sunday as well as Mothering Sunday.
In the late 17th century and through the 18th century, Mothering Sunday, while still focused on worshipping at either the church in which one had been baptized or the Diocesan Cathedral, was the day when apprentices and domestic servants were given the day off to visit their families. By the late 18th and part of the 19th century, Mothering Sunday had languished a little and was not observed as it had been in the mediaeval and Reformation Church.
The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century saw a revival of religious zeal in the UK (and by extrapolation in the then-British Empire), and Mothering Sunday was revived and became the day for honouring one’s mother. By the mid-1950s it had also adopted some of the sentiment and practices of the U.S. version of Mother’s Day.
Join us at St. John’s Cathedral for a Celebration of Mothering Sunday on Saturday, March 28th, following the Chrism Mass scheduled for 2:00 pm (and yes, the Blessing of the Oils is traditionally done on Maundy Thursday, but that’s a story for another day). Enjoy a slice of Simnel cake, the traditional indulgence for Mothering Sunday. Oh, and thereby hangs yet another tale! Through the ages Simnel cake has gone through many forms. It started out as yeast-leavened bread made with simila, Latin for the finest of white flour – hence the name. Through the centuries it morphed into a pudding, then into a simple flat fruit cake, and finally into the late 19th century, into the elaborate fruit cake with marzipan layers and decorations. The recipe below is the traditional version made in the 17th and 18th centuries and comes from the Household Journal of my 5-x great-grandmother, Myffanwy Edwards. My mother, Eunice Iles, a chef, translated the measurements into modern terms (after all, when was the last time you used “butter the size of a walnut?”) I have doubled the recipe. As we know that there are many superb bakers in the diocese, we at St. John’s Cathedral invite you to bring simnel cakes to share at the event (if you so choose).
Simnel Cake Recipe:
Preparation: Pre-heat oven to 350⁰F. Grease an 8-inch cake pan with butter and dust the bottom with flour.
Ingredients: ½ cup butter; 1 cup sugar; 4 eggs; pinch of salt; 2 cup flour; ½ cup currants; ½ cup raisins or candied peel.
Method: Cream together butter and sugar. When the mixture is fluffy, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after every addition. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Insert the knife into the centre and if it comes out clean, your simnel cake is done. Store in an airtight tin.
