Since pretty much everyone knows about St. Patrick's Day, I won't get into it, but the concept of Mothering Sunday interested me, seeing as Mother's Day in America is always celebrated in May.
I did a bit of googling and discovered that Mothering Sunday was originally a pagan celebration in the Roman religion, celebrating the mother goddess. As Rome converted to Christianity, Mothering Sunday (Laetare Sunday) was moved to the fourth Sunday of Lent, honoring the Virgin Mary and the 'mother' church. By the 16th century, people would return to their mother church on this day, often with their own mothers. Later, it was the only day of the year that servants were given off, in order to attend church and be with their families.
By the 1920s, this custom had lapsed throughout most of Europe, but it was revived in the UK by the 1950s. Merchants, meanwhile, saw a way to make some extra money, so Mother's Day also began to be celebrated, on Mothering Sunday. So these are actually 2 separate celebrations, just on the same day with very similar names. Most people believe they are one and the same (as I had before I was enlightened by wikipedia) but Mothering Sunday is Christian, while Mother's Day is entirely secular.
Well, to make the most of this weekend's holidays, Keila and I did a some shopping downtown this morning. I was under strict orders to buy myself a little something for Mother's Day, but of course Keila ended up coming home with a load of new clothes, and I didn't find anything. We did at least find a St. Patrick's Day hat--it's not as celebrated here as in the US, so we were lucky to find anything at all! Happy holidays!
Keila on the high street
Examining a Mother's Day sign
She already loves shoes!
The hat was a bit big! For more pics with her face showing, visit http://keilaeveryday.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/happy-st-patricks-day.html
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