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A programme to mark Mothering Sunday that has our presenter’s name all over it; Mary Stallard explores the relevance and significance for us today of Jesus’s mother, Mary of Nazareth. We hear about some of the long-standing traditions that have evolved around Mothering Sunday. It’s a day on which many church communities will honour their mothers and grandmothers as well as Mary herself. During the programme we hear from both Roman Catholics and Protestants about what Mary means to them. We also learn how Mary is the inspiration for contemporary religious movements and prayer groups.

While Mary is loved by many to the extent of prayers offered to her, she has become a divisive person for others. Certainly, the ‘Magnificat’ - Mary’s poetic expression upon hearing she would be the mother of Jesus - has been seen as a powerful text. But with lines such as ‘he hath put down the mighty from their seat’, it can also make for an uncomfortable message.

Finally we consider another text - the ‘Stabat Mater’, Mary’s outpouring of grief at the foot of the cross upon which Jesus is being crucified, and explore whether it has anything to say to us during the present pandemic.

Our guests are the Very Revd Sarah Rowland-Jones OBE, Dean of St David’s Cathedral; the Revd Dr Gareth Leyshon and Revd Fr Matthew Roache-Saunders; Lucy Williams from Cwmbran and a member of ‘Focolare’, Revd Fr Damian Jackson SJ from St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in Denbighshire, and the Revd Dr Jennie Hurd, Chair of the Synod Cymru district of the Methodist Church.

Music in the programme includes extracts from ‘Ave Maria’ by Robert Parsons, The St David’s Service by Neil Cox, ‘Stabat Mater’ by Giovanni Pergolesi and popular Marian hymns including ‘Daily daily’, and ‘Immaculate Mary’.