Mother's Day is usually celebrated on the second Sunday of May, and Mothers all over the world are honored with special attention and gifts from their loved ones. But was it always like this? Let's look back in time.
Historically, celebrations of Motherhood were in the spring and had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones; Goddesses and symbols were celebrated instead of actual mothers.
Ancient Egyptians held an annual festival honoring the goddess Isis, who was thought to be the Mother of the pharoahs. Ancient Greeks honored Rhea, the Mother of Gods. Romans celebrated Cybele, or Magna Mater, which means Great Mother. This festival was held between March 15 and March 22, which was about the same time as the Greek festival honoring Rhea.
During the 1600's, Christians in England celebrated a day to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Later a religious decree included all mothers and was known as "Mothering Sunday". Many of the poor in England worked as servants for the wealthy and often lived in the homes of their employers. The servants had "Mothering Sunday" off and returned to their homes to spend the day with their mothers, often bringing a "mothering cake" for this festive occasion.
The spread of Christianity throughout Europe brought a change to this celebration and began to honor the "Mother Church" or the church where they were baptized. As time passed, the church festival blended with Mothering Sunday with people honoring both the church and their mothers.
The English colonists who settled in America discontinued Mothering Sunday due to lack of time and the need to work long hours in harsh conditions. The American Mother's Day would be invented centuries later.
Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic, tried to have a manifesto for peace issued at international peace conferences in London and Paris. Horrified by the death and carnage of the Civil War, she tried to bring mothers together to protest against war. In 1873, June 2 was the day to honor peace and motherhood. This practice was observed in many cities for up to 10 years and was supported and financed by Miss Howe. She failed to get formal recognition of this day and she started supporting women's rights and peace in other ways. However, the seed for the present Mother's Day was sown.
An Appalachian homemaker, Ann Marie Jarvis Reeves, began an adaptation of Howe's idea, calling it Mother's Friendship Day. Her goal was to reunite families torn apart by allegiance to either the Union or Confederate side of the Civil War. She was also instrumental in teaching women the basics of nursing and sanitation, thus helping to save thousands of lives during the Civil War.
Ann's daughter, Anna Jarvis, spent many years caring for her ailing mother and when she died, Anna decided to start Mother's Day to honor all mothers. She felt that children neglected to show appreciation to their mothers while they were alive. In 1907, she began her quest with the support of friends. She petitioned the superintendent of Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where her mother taught Sunday School for 20 years. On May 10, 1908, a church service honored her late mother, and another service at a church in Philadelphia, Pa. honored the late Mrs. Jarvis the same day. Anna Jarvis had white carnations, which were her mother's favorite, handed out to all mothers who attended these services. Today, white carnations honor deceased mothers and pink or red carnations honor Mothers still living.
This custom caught on and spread to 45 states. In 1910, the governor of West Virginia, issued a proclamation to celebrate Mother's Day. By 1911, every state in the Union had a Mother's Day celebration. On May 7, 1914, a resolution stating the second Sunday in May be designated Mother's Day passed both Houses and was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on May 9, 1914.
In her later years, Anna Jarvis became disillusioned by the change in the observance of Mother's Day, which began as a religious service and ended up a more secular observance with gifts. By the time Anna Jarvis died, over 40 countries worldwide celebrated Mother's Day.
Today, Mother's Day is one of the most commercially successful holidays in the U.S. The National Restaurant Association reports that Mother's Day is the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant. Mother's Day is the day to pay tribute to your mother, honoring her contributions in your life; usually with cards, flowers, and gifts, and a day to have someone else prepare the meal!
(Sources for this article were gleaned from theholidayspot.com and mothersdaycentral.com).
