Monday 25 February 2008

don't forget Mothers' Day

In the US it's the second Sunday in May (this year it's 11th May).
In the UK and Ireland Mothers' Day falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent:
2nd March 2008

In these parts the tradition goes back to 'Mothering Sunday' when Catholics were supposed to travel to Mass in their "Mother Church" (or regional cathedral) rather than their local parish. With the Reformation, it had become an occasion for children to visit parents.

In the US the first known observance of Mother's Day occurred in Albion, Michigan, on May 13, 1877, the second Sunday of the month. Legend claims local pioneer, Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, called on other mothers to join her when she stepped up to complete the sermon of the Rev. Myron Daughterty, who was distraught. Apparently an anti-temperance group had forced his son and two other temperance advocates to spend the night in a saloon and become publicly drunk!

Blakeley's two sons, both travelling salesmen, vowed to return each year to pay tribute to her. At their urging, in the early 1880s, the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albion set aside the second Sunday in May to recognize the special contributions of mothers.


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