Mothering Sunday is a Christian holiday celebrated throughout
Europe that falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent. Secularly it became
an occasion for honouring mothers of children and giving them
presents. It is increasingly being called Mothers' Day, although
that holiday has other origins. In the UK it is celebrated in
the same way as Mothers' Day is celebrated elsewhere. During the
sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church, the
main church or cathedral of the area, for a service to be held
on Laetare Sunday. This was either a large local church, or more
often the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly
said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this term
preceded the observance of Mothering Sunday is unclear. In later
times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were
given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their
own mothers and other family members. It was often the only time
that whole families could gather together, since on other days
they we