A Treasure To Be Shared

Simnel Cake | BBC image - from the NEWS Notes of SJHN Victoria, BC Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace, may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. - Collect for Mothering Sunday, Divine Worship: The Missal. Mothering Sunday falls every year on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, also called Mid-Lent Sunday or Refreshment Sunday, referring to its sense of respite halfway through this season of fasting and penitence. Medieval traditions surrounding this Sunday ranged from the practice of daughters visiting their mothers – especially important for those engaged as domestic servants away from home – to the gifts of simnel cakes or wafer cakes. These various customs came from the medieval recognition of this day as ‘Lætare Sunday’. In the Middle Ages, many Sundays were refe...