Saturday 2 April

To be a Mother is to be
the first voice listened to,
and the first disregarded;
to be a Mender of broken creations,
and Comforter of distraught children
whose hands wrought them.

To be a Mother is to be a Touchstone
and the Source,
Bestower of names,
Influencer of identities;
Life giver,
Life shaper,
Healer,
and
Original Love.

Ever-giving and self-emptying God,
thank you for every way in which
you are a Mother to us. Amen.

Friday 1 April

To be a Mother is to be accused of sentimentality one moment,
and injustice the next.
To be the Receiver of endless demands,
Absorber of perpetual complaints,
Reckoner of bottomless needs.

To be a Mother is to be an Artist;
a Keeper of memories past,
Weaver of stories untold,
Visionary of lives looming ahead.
Mothering God,
thank you for knitting us together.

Thursday 31 March

To be a Mother is to be vulnerable—
to be misunderstood,
railed against,
blamed
for the heartaches of bewildered children
who don’t know where else to cast
the angst they feel
over their own existence
in this perplexing universe.

To be a Mother is to hoist onto your hips those on whom your image is imprinted,
bearing the burden of their weight,
rejoicing in their returned affection,
delighting in their wonder,
bleeding in the presence of their pain.

Mothering God,
thank you for bearing our suffering.

Wednesday 30 March

To be a Mother is to weep over the fighting and exclusions and wounds your children inflict on one another;

To long for reconciliation and—when all is said and done—to gather all parties, the offender and the offended, into the folds of your embrace and to whisper in their ears that they are Beloved.

Mothering God,
thank you for your reconciling love.

Tuesday 29 March

To be a Mother is to suffer;
to travail in the dark,
stretched and torn,
exposed in half-naked humiliation,
subjected to indignities
for the sake of new life.

To be a Mother is to say,
“This is my body, broken for you,”
and, in the next instant,
in response to primal hunger,
“This is my body, take and eat.”

Mothering God,
thank you for your selfless love.

Monday 28 March

Mothering God, you gave me birth
in the bright morning of this world.
Creator, source of every breath,
you are my rain, my wind, my sun.

Mothering Christ, you took my form,
offering me your food of light,
grain of life, and grape of love,
your very body for my peace.

Mothering Spirit, nurturing one,
in arms of patience hold me close,
so that in faith I root and grow
until I flower, until I know.

Sunday 27 March
Mothering Sunday

God of all, born into a family,
knowing the joys and tensions
that family life can bring,
grant to us your grace.
May hope be stronger than struggle,
may celebrations be more frequent than trials,
may kindness prevail over judgment,
may equality dissolve oppression,
may love break walls of hate.

Mothers’ Union Prayer for Mothering Sunday 2022

This sequence of daily readings or prayers for the fourth week of Lent was compiled by Rev Dr Michael Paterson using materials written by him and drawn from a variety of sources. You can download a printable version of the week’s sequence at this link.