How is it that Kathleen Snow of Fredericton has just become the worldwide president of the Mothers’ Union?
“It wasn’t me,” she said. “It was God!”
Kathleen is a founding member of the MU chapter at Christ Church Cathedral, asked by the dean at the time, the Very Rev. John Wright, to form the group in the 1980s. They began with five members, and are still going strong, with Kathleen taking on various leadership roles locally and beyond...
The Worldwide Mothers' Union has released its Prayer Diary for 2025. Click to download the document. It includes prayers for every day of the year, themes and specific prayer requests, along with places to add your own personal prayers.
From the introduction to the Prayer Diary:
Mothers’ Union members are united through the power of prayer. Prayer is our foundation, our strength, and our inspiration. Each day at midday, Mothers’ Union members all over the world pause to pray. The monthly themes in this Prayer Diary are echoed in our midday prayers.
We invite you to join us as we gather together on our Facebook page for midday prayers. By praying together, we strengthen our bond and remind ourselves that we are always connected in prayer, wherever we are in the world.
The global wave of prayer expresses our commitment to each other, in all the places we work and reside. By joining with and sustaining this wave of prayer, we can be part of something bigger than ourselves. We give thanks for the team of Mothers’ Union members from across the globe who have come together to deliver our 2025 Prayer Diary. The team has worked tirelessly to produce prayer resources that are joined up and help us connect more easily in prayer. We pray that you enjoy listening to the different voices as you partner with us in prayer.
Mothers’ Union is a Christian organisation that has been supporting families worldwide for over 140 years. Started by founder Mary Sumner in 1876 in her local parish, it has grown into an international charity with over 4 million members in 84 countries.
As a Christian membership charity, Mothers' Union demonstrates faith in action. This happens as they work towards stopping poverty, stopping inequality and stopping injustice. Members work at grassroots level around the world. They bring hope and practical support to millions of people every year through parenting, literacy and community development programmes.
Prayer is at the heart of their work. Members come together every day at midday to focus prayers for their communities, fellow members and for those in need, in the belief that the power of prayer is transformational and supports their work around the world.
Despite the name, Mothers' Union is an inclusive organisation with a growing number of men.
The President of the Worldwide Mothers' Union is Kathleen Snow.
Alex Pope and Linda Hall, two of the many volunteers who assisted with the Pause Table.
On 09 December, members of the Cathedral branch of Mothers’ Union spent the day giving baked goods, bagels, treats and encouragement to students studying for exams at UNB.
The 'Pause Table' initiative has become one that is welcomed by university students during exam week. Campus ministries at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University once again collaborated with faith communities to host Pause Tables during exams. Volunteers provided free food, beverages, a listening ear, and conversation, and handwritten personalized notes to give students a break from studying.
Thank you to everyone who provided time and treats for the Pause Tables!
Mothers' Union volunteers served students at university 'Pause Tables' in April 2024. Held during exam weeks, the event has become a welcome tradition.
The 'Pause Table' initiative has become one that is welcomed by university students during exam week.
Campus ministries at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University are once again collaborating with faith communities to host the Pause Tables during upcoming exams, and the Cathedral branch of Mothers' Union will be participating again this year.
Volunteers will provide free food, beverages, a listening ear, and conversation, and handwritten personalized notes to give students a break from studying. Mothers’ Union will host a Pause Table on Monday, 09 December, 2024.
Donations of food from the congregation would be greatly appreciated. Non-perishable items such as hot chocolate, granola bars, juice boxes, microwaveable noodles etc.) can be delivered to the Hall Kitchen any day during office hours (9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon). Perishable items (baked goods, sandwiches, fruit, etc.). can be dropped off on Sunday, 08 December during services. Please mark items for UNB.
Mothers' Union also welcomes anyone who would like to spend some time at the Pause Table interacting with students. Contact Diane Nash <mrsnash68 at gmail.com> or Susan Watson <bagel.watson at hotmail.com> if you have any further questions or wish to be added to the schedule for that day.
Congratulations to Kathleen Snow on the announcement of her election as the new President of the Worldwide Mother's Union. The announcement was made via the mothersunion.org on September 3rd.
The new volunteer board, which will assume office in January 2025, remains women-led and reflects the diversity of our worldwide movement, with trustees from nine different countries. United they will continue to advance Mothers’ Union’s vision to end poverty, violence, and social injustice in communities worldwide.
Leading the new Board will be Worldwide President Elect, Kathleen Snow from Canada. Kathleen has served on the Board for six years as the Zonal Trustee for the Americas and has been a volunteer facilitator for the worldwide parenting programme and the Mothers’ Union Listens, Observes and Acts (MULOA) consultation, which engaged 200,000 members globally. She is also the Chair of the MU Development Committee, overseeing programmes like the transformational literacy initiative that empowers women and breaks the cycle of poverty.
Accepting the role, Kathleen commented “This is humbling, and a great honour. I look forward to working with members and staff to continue to build God’s Kingdom through Mothers’ Union. I am particularly excited that, as we carry forward the torch in January, we will be building on the firm foundations of our transformational programme work. Just this week we are starting a new campaign, speaking up to right the injustice which means that, still today, 765 million adults cannot read or write, 2/3rds of them women, meaning they are unable to read medicine bottles, register the birth of a child, vote or ensure they get the correct change in the market.
The Pause Table initiative has become one that is welcomed by university students during exam week.
Campus ministries at UNB and STU are once again collaborating with faith communities to host the tables during upcoming exams. Volunteers will provide free food, beverages, a listening ear, and conversation, and handwritten personalized notes to give students a break from studying.
The Cathedral branch of Mothers’ Union will host a Pause Table on Monday, 15 April, 2024.
Donations of food would be greatly appreciated from the congregation (baked goods, sandwiches, fruit, microwaveable noodles, etc.). Non-perishable items can be delivered to Cathedral Memorial Hall during business hours. Perishable items can dropped off on Sunday, 14 April during worship. Please mark them for UNB Outreach.
We also welcome volunteers who would like to spend some time at the Pause Table interacting with students. Contact Diane Nash <mrsnash68 at gmail.com> or Susan Watson <bagel.watson at hotmail.com> if you have questions or wish to be added to the schedule.
Mothering Sunday, not to be confused with Canadian Mother's Day, is celebrated in Anglican Churches on the fourth Sunday in Lent; and dates to the custom in England when domestic servants in the grand houses of the landed gentry were permitted to go home to visit their home church and mother. Often the housekeeper or cook would allow the maids to bake a cake to take home to their mother. Sometimes a gift of eggs or flowers from the garden (or hothouse) was allowed, or they may have picked wildflowers from he wayside, violets especially.
In Canada, Mothers' Union branches observe Mothering Sunday by distributing flowers to mothers and serving the traditional Simnel cake and/or cookies after worship. Simnel cake is a light fruit cake made with a layer of marzipan in the middle and if desired a layer on top. The cake is decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, the betrayer of Christ. If 12 balls are used, the 12th one is to represent Jesus.
Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday
Even more ancient custom is the Fourth Sunday in Lent referred to as Laetare Sunday, when the Church took a bit of a breather from Lenten practice and opened the Eucharist with the entrance antiphon, “Rejoice, Jerusalem … be joyful, all who were in mourning!” – from Isaiah chapter 66. The Latin word means “rejoice..”
On this Sunday, in churches that had them, priests would wear rose coloured vestments on both Laetare Sunday and Gaudete Sunday (the Third Sunday of Advent). The colour was used as a sign of the joy characterizing these two Sundays. The use of rose vestments may even originate in an even more ancient tradition of the Church blessing golden roses that were sent to heads of state on the Fourth Sunday in Lent.
In addition to attending Sunday worship a family might choose to mark Laetare Sunday by anticipating the Easter feast; a Sunday brunch with roses on the table or during this beginning period of spring to plant a rose bush on this day. Noting the medieval tradition of visiting one’s “mother church” (the church where one was baptized) on this day might suggest a family trip to see where mom and dad or the children began their journey of faith. In any case, this Sunday seemed to be a most appropriate day for “Mothering Sunday.”
Recipe for Simnel Cake
3/4 cup soft butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup mixed peel
1/3 cup chopped candied cherries
2 tsp lemon rind
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
500 grams of almond paste, at room temperature
Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add almond extract. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to eggs, then add the fruit and mix.
Put 1/2 the mixture in an 8” springform pan lined with waxed or parchment paper. Roll half of almond paste and place in pan. Spoon remainder of batter on top. Bake 30 min at 350°F then reduce heat to 300°F and bake 1 1/2 hours longer. Cool 10 min. Heat oven to 425°F.
Roll remaining almond paste into an 8” round circle and 12 small balls. Put the circle on top of the cake and place the balls on top like the numbers on a clock.
Listen to Deacon Isabel Cutler speak about Mothers' Union at the Cathedral on Sunday March 10th.
Through exam week, campus ministries are collaborating with faith communities to host Pause Tables. Volunteers will provide free food, beverages, a listening ear and conversation, to give students a break from studying.
The Cathedral branch of Mothers' Union will be handing out treats to the UNB students again this year on 11 December.
You can help by contributing some items!
Deliver non-perishable items (e.g. drink boxes, packaged snacks, hot chocolate packs, etc.) to the Cathedral on Sunday morning or leave them at the Cathedral Office labelled for MU or UNB outreach.
Deliver baked goods (e.g. cookies, muffins, etc.) to the Hall kitchen on Sunday, December 10th between 2-3:30 and 5-7:30 as volunteers from Mothers' Union will be in the building at those times.
Thank you for your help in reaching out to provide care and comfort to university students in our community.
We have been making these beeswax candles for at least 20 years now. It is the major fundraiser for our group. Each fall, the purple and pink wax is ordered from a company in British Columbia, and we are always surprised at the various shades of these two colours that we receive. Equipped with our hair dryers, we arrive at the Hall kitchen, prepared to make and assemble the sets we hope to sell that year just prior to Advent. We know these candles have become a major part of the Advent celebration in the homes of Cathedral members and others who seek them out each year.
This activity was traditionally carried out at our October Wednesday night meeting, but last year we needed to meet on a Saturday to get it done. We so enjoyed that Saturday morning, and the lunch that followed afterwards, that we decided it would be nice to repeat that this year. About half of our 15 members were able to participate. You will see our members selling the $20 sets, that include 3 purple and 1 pink candle, in the Cathedral starting on 12 November through to the first Sunday in Advent.
The photo below is from our Spring Retreat that took place on Mactaquac Lake. Back row left to right: Sandra Noftell, Bonnie Greenwood, Rosa Macaulay, Susan Black, middle: Kelley Hall, Diane Nash, Susan Watson, Susan Colpitts-Judd, Michele Leblanc, front: Lilian Ketch, Isabel Cutler. Missing from photo: Kathleen Snow, John DosSantos, Joanne Barfitt and Diane Radford.
How is it that Kathleen Snow of Fredericton has just become the worldwide president of the Mothers’ Union?
