Catholic Customs and Traditions for Mother's Day


Mother's Day, which is celebrated the second Sunday in May, is remembered by most Catholic parishes. In some parishes, women receive flowers. At my former parish, following the weekend Masses, our pro-life group sold beautiful long-stemmed roses for a few dollars and donated the money to an organization which provided counseling and assistance to pregnant mothers. We rarely had any left. When we did, they were placed in front of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother.

Sometimes the Sunday homily will include a discussion of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, the model for mothers to emulate. The parish may also recite special prayers for mothers and mothers will receive a blessing from the priest.

At home, family members may pray a blessing for mothers and grandmothers around the family table. Here is one you can use:

God of love, listen to this prayer. God of holy people of Sarah, Ruth, and Rebeekah, God of holy Elizabeth, mother of John, of holy Mary, Mother of Jesus,bend down Your ear to this request and bless the mother(s) of our family. Bless her with the strength of Your spirit, she who taught her children how to stand and how to walk. Bless her with the melody of your love, she who has shared how to speak and how to sing and how to pray to You. Bless her with a place at Your eternal dinner table, she who has fed and nurtured the life that was formed within her while still helpless but embraced in her love. Bless her today, now, in this lifetime, with good things, with health. Bless her with joy, love, laughter, and pride with her child/children and surround her with many good friends. May she who carried life in her womb be carried one day to Your Divine embrace, there, for all eternity, to rejoice with her family and friends. The blessing and all graces, we pray, descend upon the mother of our family, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

~ Adapted in part from The Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions by Ronda De Sola Chervin and Carla Conley

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