In honor of the Matralia on June 11th, here is a verse written by Olivia Robertson:
"Birds call their song of hope to Wandering Souls;
Pilgrims in search of their lost Heaven;
Within the Mothers’ Home lies hidden;
The Source of Life."
From "Juno Covella, Perpetual Calendar of the Fellowship of Isis", by Lawrence Durdin-Robertson:
"The Matralia: (Seyffert, Dict.) 'Matuta (usually Mater Matuta). An old Italian Goddess of dawn and of birth, also Goddess of harbours and of the sea, and hence identified with the Greek Leucothea. In her temple at Rome in the Forum Boarium, on the 11th of June, the Matralia, or Festival of Mothers, was celebrated in her honour by the women of Rome. . a matron who had not been married before was allowed to place a wreath on the statue of the Goddess. The women first prayed for the well-being of their nephews and nieces, and then for that of their own children. This custom was referred to the myth of Ino-Leucothea, who tended Dionysus, the son of her sister Semele.' (Lempriere, Dict.) 'Matralia, a festival at Rome, in honour of Matuta or Ino . . They make offerings of flowers and carried their relations' children in their arms, recommending them to the care and patronage of the Goddess whom they worshipped.' (Ovid, Fasti, VI, 475) 'June 11th . . Go, good mothers (the Matralia is your festival), and offer to the Theban Goddess the yellow cakes that are her due . . on this day, it is said, Servius dedicated with his own sceptered hands a temple to Mater Matuta'."
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(© photo of the Cave of the Mothers, FOI Foundation Center Temple, by Minette Quick)
