Editing Mothering Sunday (section)

{{Short description|Christian celebration during Lent}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{About||the British drama film|Mothering Sunday (film)|the 2016 novel by Graham Swift |Mothering Sunday (novel)}}
{{For|the secular observation of the holiday|Mother's Day}}
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name  = Mothering Sunday
|type          = [[Christianity|Christian]], cultural
|image         =
|imagesize     =
|caption       =
|official_name =
|nickname      =
|observedby    =
|litcolor      =
|longtype      =
|significance  =
|begins        =
|ends          =
|date          =  4th Sunday in [[Lent]]
|date{{LASTYEAR}}    = {{Moveable date |holiday=Mothering Sunday |year={{LASTYEAR}} |format=infobox}}
|date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Moveable date |holiday=Mothering Sunday |year={{CURRENTYEAR}} |format=infobox |cite=y}}
|date{{NEXTYEAR}}    = {{Moveable date |holiday=Mothering Sunday |year={{NEXTYEAR}} |format=infobox}}
|date{{NEXTYEAR|2}}  = {{Moveable date |holiday=Mothering Sunday |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}} |format=infobox}}
|celebrations  =
|duration   = 1 day
|frequency   = Annual
|observances   = Visiting the local [[mother church]] or the church in which one was [[baptised]]; honouring one's mother<ref name="Diller1990"/>
|relatedto     = [[Laetare Sunday]], [[Lent]]
}}
'''Mothering Sunday''' is a day honouring [[mother church]]es,<ref name="Diller1990"/> the church where one is baptised and becomes "a child of the church", celebrated since the [[Middle Ages]]<ref name="Smith1926">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Constance Penswick |title=A short history of Mothering Sunday (mid-Lent) |date=1926 |location=Nottingham |edition=3 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009976838}}</ref> in the [[United Kingdom]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries on the [[fourth Sunday in Lent]]. On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the [[sacrament]] of [[baptism]].<ref name="Diller1990">{{cite book |last1=Diller |first1=Harriett |title=Celebrations That Matter: A Year-Round Guide to Making Holidays Meaningful |date=1990 |publisher=Augsburg |isbn=978-0-8066-2498-3 |page=35 |language=en |quote=In England, Mothering Sunday is a day to honor both your mother church and your own mother. In the past, young people working away from home visited their mothers and the churches where they were baptized on Mothering Sunday.}}</ref><ref name="PearsonSzoke2009">{{cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Sharon Ely |last2=Szoke |first2=Robyn |title=The Prayer Book Guide to Christian Education, Third Edition |date=2009 |publisher=[[Church Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-8192-2337-1 |page=49 |language=en |quote=Mothering Sunday—In England children away from home at school or work were permitetd to go home to visit their mothers and/or to visit their cathedral or mother church on this fourth Sunday of Lent. Today, many cathedrals and "mother" churches invite all who had been baptized there to return "home" to worship.}}</ref>

[[Constance Adelaide Smith]] revived its modern observance beginning in 1913 to honour Mother Church, 'mothers of earthly homes', the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus)]], and [[Mother Nature]].<ref name="Smith1921" /> It gained popularity in response to the originally American [[Mother's Day]].<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=103415|title=Smith, Constance Adelaide [''pseud.'' C. Penswick Smith]|last1=Moyse|first1=Cordelia|date=4 October 2012}}</ref> The holiday is often known as "Mother's Day" in the [[United Kingdom]], and has become a secular celebration of mothers and motherhood.