Mother's Day in various regions:
Second Sunday of May : May 11 2008, May 10 2009, May 9 2010 :
Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada,
Chile, China, Republic of Taiwan, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany,
Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy,
Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, South Africa,
St. Lucia, Saint Vincent, Sint Maarten, Singapore, Suriname, Switzerland,
Trinidad, Tobago, Trinidad, Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States,
Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
Mothers
Day Story
Celebrating motherhood is a historical tradition dating back almost as far
as mothers themselves. A number of ancient cultures paid tribute to
mothers as goddesses, including the ancient Greeks, who celebrated Rhea,
the mother of all gods. The ancient Romans also honored their mother
goddess, Cybele, in a notoriously rowdy springtime celebration and the
Celtic Pagans marked the coming of spring with a fertility celebration
linking their goddess Brigid together with the first milk of the ewes.
During the 17th century, those living on the British isles initiated a
religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was
held on the forth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured
the reunification of mothers and their children, separated when working
class families had to send off their young children to be employed as
house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to
return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday's
popularity faded in the 19th century, only to be reincarnated during World
War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial)
aspects of the celebration American counterpart.
In the United States, Mother's Day experienced a series of false starts
before eventually transitioning into the "Hallmark" holiday that we
celebrate today. In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis was the first woman to hold
an official celebration of mothers, when in her home state of West
Virginia, she instituted Mothers' Work Day to raise awareness about local
sanitation issues. During the Civil War, she expanded the scope of
Mothers' Work Day to include sanitary conditions on both sides of the
battlefield.
Meanwhile Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic,"
attempted to institute a national celebration of mothers that honored
women's inclinations toward peace (rather than cleanliness). In 1872, she
initiated and promoted a Mother's Day for Peace, to be held on June 2,
which was celebrated the following year by women in 18 cities across
America. The holiday continued to be honored by Bostonian women for
another decade, but eventually phased out after Howe stopped underwriting
the cost of the celebrations.
Then in 1905, Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away and her daughter, Anna
Jarvis, took up her mother's torch. Anna swore on her mother's gravesite
that she would realize her lifelong dream of creating a national day to
honor mothers. In 1907, Anna launched her campaign by handing out white
carnations to congregants at her mother's church in Grafton, West
Virginia. In 1908, her mother's church acquiesced to Anna's request to
hold a special Sunday service in honor of mothers - a tradition that
spread the very next year to churches in 46 states. In 1909, Anna left her
job and dedicated herself to a full-time letter-writing campaign,
imploring politicians, clergymen and civic leaders to institute a national
day for mothers.
In 1912, Jarvis' efforts met with success: Her home state of West Virginia
adopted an official Mother's Day; two years later, the U.S. Congress
passed a Joint Resolution, signed by President Wilson, establishing a
national Mother's Day emphasizing the role of women in their families -
and not, like Julia Ward Howe's campaign, in the public arena. Ever since,
Mother's Day has been celebrated by Americans on the second Sunday in May.
Perhaps the country's greatest proponent of motherhood, Anna Jarvis
ironically never had children of her own. Yet that didn't stop her from
making the celebration of Mother's Day her lifelong mission. In fact, as
the holiday took on a life of its own, Jarvis expressed frequent dismay
over its growing commercialization. "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment,
not profit," she is quoted as saying. |