I would say God couldn’t go everywhere so he created mothers -Some quote I read when I was young-So true till today-anytime-anyday.
ORIGIN OF MOTHERS DAY
Mothers Day Origin In The United Kingdom (England)
The modern way of celebrating the holy Mother’s Day has its roots back into the seventeenth century England culture.
Today the mother’s day is celebrated with families. This is the day when people bring flowers and gifts to their moms. But originally all this begins with the “Mothering Sunday”, which was the fourth Sunday in Lent.
The Mothering Sunday was the day in earlier times when all the children who were away from their homes were allowed to return their homes. However they were away from their homes either for learning a trade or to work as servants to earn livelihood.
Gradually it became a tradition that on this day the family used to gather for a mid-Lenten feast in which the Mother was treated as the ‘Special Guest’. As the children visited their moms on this day in order to spend entire day with their mothers they used to give treats of cakes to their mothers. They also used to get wildflower bouquets and other such things for their mothers.
The same ‘Mothering Sunday‘ is today celebrated as and popularly known as the Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day Origin In the United States Of America
In the United States Of America (USA) the situation was quite different. There the early English settlers often disapproved of more secular holidays and this is why the Mothering Sunday tradition never really took hold in the USA. Even some early attempts made there in this regard were mixed with women’s suffrage and other peace movements.
In the USA it was Julia Ward Howe, the author of the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, who came with the idea of an International Mother’s day in 1872. It is noticeable here that her objective behind this was not exactly to honor mothers but to celebrate the peace.
Another important name associated with present form of Mother’s Day celebrations is of Anna Jarvis. Anna Jarvis was the person who made lots of efforts for establishing Mother’s Day, as a national celebration. Jarvis held an annual gathering “Mother’s Friendship Day”, with an objective to heal the pain of the victims and those affected of the Civil War. After the death of her mother in 1905, Anna began a campaign for the establishment of an official Mother’s Day in order to commemorate and pay tribute to her mother.
It could be said that Anna Jarvis devoted her entire life making efforts to have Mother’s Day declared as a national holiday. She began her struggle in the spring of 1908. As her first step made in this direction she wrote to the Superintendent of Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. This was the place where her mother had taught Sunday School classes for over 20 years. In her letter to the Superintendent she urged that a Mother’s Day service should be held in honor of her mother.
First Mother’s Day Celebration Service
As a result of her efforts the first official Mother’s Day was celebrated on May 10, 1908 at Andrew’s Methodist Church, where her mother had taught. 407 persons attended this celebration. For this function held at the church in Grafton Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations. One carnation was to be worn by each son and daughter and two by each mother in attendance.
Another Mother’s Day Celebration Service
Another Mother’s Day celebration service was held in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was the place where Anna resided with her brother. She celebrated Mother’s Day there later that afternoon.
Official Mother’s Day
Finally in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared that Mother’s Day should be celebrated as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May.
The Ancient Greek and Roman cultures can be said to be the originators of the tradition of honoring our mothers. The religious festivals and spring were the time when mothers were specifically honored. Coming to the contemporary origination of the mother’s day celebration in present day United States, it was Julia Ward Howe, author of the words of the Battle Hymn of the Republic who purported that a day should be decided upon to be celebrated as Mother’s Day. This would be a commemoration to peace according to her.
However she wasn’t taken seriously, but still continued to hold mother’s day meetings in Massachusetts every year. Finally it was Mrs. Anna Jarvis who got the credit of getting mother’s day celebrations formalized in the United States. Her inspiration was her own mother, who dedicated a lifetime for the upbringing of a family of eleven children. On the second death anniversary of her mother, the second Sunday of May, she convinced her mother’s parish in West Virginia for mother’s day celebrations. Her mother’s favorite flower, the white carnation was used to decorate the church.
Since then the white carnation has been a symbol of a mother who has passed away and a red one for a living mother. This though has changed over the times and now many flowers are accepted as signifying a tribute to the mother. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s day a national holiday. In the United States the traditional way of celebrating this day is to bring your mother flowers and take her on a special meal.
The white chrysanthemum in Australia has taken the place of the white carnation as it is the most prolific flower in May. In Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Japan, Australia and Belgium, the second Sunday of May is celebrated as Mother’s Day while some other countries do that on another day. Sweden and France celebrate it on the last Sunday of May and is more like a family birthday to them.
There is a great connection between Mother’s day and spring for in Lebanon it is celebrated on the first day of spring and in South Africa mother’s day celebrations happen on the first Sunday of May. The festival Durga Puja in honor of the divine mother is celebrated as a ten day elaborate affair in India. In Spain and Portugal mother’s day is celebrated on December 8th when they not only honor their own mothers but also the Virgin Mary.
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Wishing a Happy Mother’s love on each day-each moment to you all,there is no particular celebration for days that includes love so mothers day is one among those.Happy Mothers day!!!
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