Minsters and mothers:

A "minster" was originally the church associated with a monastery. Thus it was usually the first church in its district, and long remained the chief one, a centre for teaching and spreadng the religion. Cathedrals, the seats of bishops and the capitals of their dioceses, rose to importance later. Axminster, with its minster church and its crossroads position in its valley, was once almost as eminent as Exeter, the county and cathedral town; it has been described as a "half-county-town".

(What connection does minster have with minister?— convergence).

In later mediaeval times, as the population grew, many more churches were founded, such as by the lords of manors, and their parishes were carved out of the large parishes of the minsters; the minster-church system declined. Still the minsters were the "mother churches" of the churches that grew up around them, and Mothering Sunday was the Sunday on which the villages honoured their "mother". What connection does this have with the modern Mothers' Day?