The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the
spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honour of Rhea, the Mother
of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called
"Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day
period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honoured the
mothers of England.
During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for
the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the
servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering
Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to
return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake,
called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a
festive touch.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to
honour the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life
and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended
with the Mothering Sunday celebration . People began honouring their
mothers as well as the church.
In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by
Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the
Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organised
Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year.
In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish
a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in
Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second
anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next
year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.
Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers,
businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national
Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was
celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914,
made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national
holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.
While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at
different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as
Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also
celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.
Some Motherly Advice...
Always wear clean underwear; you never know when you'll have an
accident.
Don't make that face or it'll freeze in that position.
Be careful or you'll put your eye out.
What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?
You have enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes!
Close that door! Were you born in a barn?
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
Don't put that in your mouth; you don't know where it's been!
M ... is for the million things she gave me,
O... means only that she's growing old,
T... is for the tears she shed to save me,
H... is for her heart of purest gold;
E... is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
R... means right, and right she'll always be.
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
