Mother's
Day is, in many countries, a day for celebrating motherhood and thanking
mothers. Mothers often receive gifts on this day, and it is a huge time of year
for mail. In 1973, the U.S. Postal Service was held up for 8 days because of the
constant flow of letters and cards.
Origins
Mother's day has evolved in many countries in different ways. This is because
mother's day has different origins in different countries and therefore occurs
on different days in the year.
One school of thought claims that this day emerged from the custom of mother
worship in ancient Greece. Mother worship which kept a festival to Cybele, a
great mother of gods, and Rhea, the wife of Cronus, was held on March 15 to
March 18 around Asia Minor. They insist that this custom spread around the
world.
Mothering Sunday is the celebration of motherhood in the United Kingdom. It
takes place on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This Sunday is also known as Mid-lent
Sunday, Rose Sunday and Laetare Sunday. Traditionally the children will bring
gifts of flowers and chocolates to their mother. Breakfast in bed is also an
expectation, as is a relaxing, carefree day. It originally comes from the
Victorian practice of allowing servants to return home to visit their mothers on
this day.
United States Origins
Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910) was a prominent American
abolitionist, social activist, and poet. Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic was
first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 and quickly became one of the
most popular songs for the Union during the American Civil War. After the war
she focused her activities on the causes of Pacifism and women's suffrage. In
1870 she was the first to proclaim Mother's Day, with her Mother's Day
Proclamation.
Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis (September 30, 1832 - May 9, 1905) was born in Culpeper,
Virginia. Jarvis worked around what is now West Virginia to promote worker
health and safety concerns. During the American Civil War she organized women to
tend to the needs of the wounded of both sides. After the war she became active
in the promotion of Mother's Day, a holiday at that time involved with the
causes of pacifism and social activism. She organized meetings for mothers of
soldiers on both sides of the late war.
Her daughter Anna Marie Jarvis (May 1, 1864 - November 24, 1948) of Grafton,
West Virginia held a memorial to her mother on the second anniversary of her
mother's death (1907) and then went on a quest to make Mother's Day a recognized
holiday. In 1908 formal observances were held in churches in Grafton and
Philadelphia. By 1911 every state celebrated the occasion on the second Sunday
in May. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement
proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday and ordered the United States
flag displayed on all public buildings.
Remember to tell your mom how much you appreciate her by
going to see her, calling her, or sending her a gift. Mothers deserve at least
one day a year to feel special.
sources: wikipedia.org, Compton's Interactive
Encyclopedia 1997
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