Welcome to Cyber Celebrations Mothering Sunday Cards Shop!

Our mothers are probably the most important people in our lives and we can trace the celebration of their status back to the spring celebrations of the ancient Greeks in honour of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods; similar festivities were held by the citizens of the Roman Empire in honour of their mother goddess, Cybele.

With the advent of Christianity, a different aspect of Motherhood was celebrated: that of the Mother Church. This took place on the fourth Sunday in Lent, on the one day during this period when a brief respite from the forty days of fasting was allowed. This special Sunday was known by a number of names, Refreshment or Laerte Sunday, and Mothering Sunday; this latter because people made special visits to their Mother Church, (which may have been some distance away), to bring special gifts in celebration.

Centuries ago children working away from home as servants and apprentices were given a special day's holiday for this purpose, so they flocked back to their parents' homes, often making long journeys on foot. They would bring home for their mothers a bunch of spring flowers, often violets, a small sum of money or trinket, and in some counties such as Worcestershire and Herefordshire, a special Simnel cake. The reunited family would then probably attend church together before sharing a meal of some traditional dish, possibly lamb or veal.

So the two celebrations of Motherhood have eventually merged, and Mothering Sunday is recorded in the mid-17th century as a day when 'when all the children and grandchildren ' were said 'to meet at the head and chiefe of the family, and have a feast'.

Simnel cakes have never lost their appeal (although they have now become an Easter delicacy), but the observance of Mothering Sunday, which was reached its peak during mid-Victorian times, was said to be 'declining' even in its Herefordshire heartland by 1912, and to be 'virtually extinct' by 1935.

An entirely separate American festival was conceived in Philadelphia in 1907 by a Miss Anna Jarvis and celebrated on the second Sunday in May, being the anniversary of her mother's death. This crossed the Atlantic with hundreds of homesick GIs in 1944, and at once hybridised with our waning British celebration, and since then has rapidly increased in both popularity and commercialism! But our Mothering Sunday still remains firmly attached to its traditional mid-Lenten date, and special children's services are held in churches all over the country.

Nowadays, even if you cannot travel home to our own mothers, you can still celebrate their special day, and Cyber celebrations have chosen a selection of cards to help you do so... No need of pen and paper or a stamp, just choose your virtual card, type in your message and a couple of e-mail addresses, and press the button. Off it will speed through cyberspace to your chosen destination, whether it be next door or the other side of the world.

Please note: Many other countries as well as the USA celebrate their Mothers Day in May; these cards will also be available at this time.

Select or Collect your Mothering Sunday/Mothers Day Greetings card now...
No fuss - no bother - no charge!!
Enjoy!

Choose the Mothering Sunday/Mothers Day Card you would like to send by pressing the button; the Virtual Greetings Card Rack will be displayed for you to make your selection. Then all you need to do is fill in the information on the form, but please make sure that the e-mail address to which you are sending your card is correct, otherwise it cannot be delivered!

Have your remembered to bring your RECEIPT?
You need this to be able to collect your Virtual Greetings Card! You may be able to "cut and paste" your receipt number into the box; otherwise: please type it in very carefully, because upper and lower case letters do matter!!