Mother's Day is believed to have evolved from centuries ago in ancient
Greece, having derived from an annual Greek spring festival to honor Rhea,
the Mother of God's. Christians later celebrated the festival on the fourth
Sunday of Lent to honor Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. Later in England
the holiday included all mothers and was named Mothering Sunday.
The tradition of Mothering Sunday was later discontinued due to lack
of time, until Julia Ward Howe, in 1872 organized a day honoring mothers
dedicated to peace. Julia Ward Howe's Mother's
Day was celebrated on June 2nd.
In 1907, Anna Maria Jarvis began a campaign to establish a national Mother's
Day holiday in memory of her mother. She approached legislators and
prominent businessmen about her campaign to recognize a special day to
honor her own mother and all mothers. In one such effort she gave out
her mother's
favorite flower, the white carnation,
at her church in West Virginia. Anna's efforts took effect when President
Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May as a national holiday
in honor of mothers everywhere. Mother's
Day gradually started being celebrated across the globe. Mother's
Day is celebrated in the United States on the second Sunday of May and
on other days in different parts of the world.
At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing
letters to their mothers, and eventually by sending
cards, gifts,
and flowers. With the
increasing gift-giving activity
associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed
that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed
and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival,
and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling
carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis
is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the Mother's
Day tradition.
Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United
States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular
day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest
traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to
honor and to express appreciation of their mothers.
Mother's Day is believed to have evolved from centuries ago in ancient
Greece, having derived from an annual Greek spring festival to honor Rhea,
the Mother of God's. Christians later celebrated the festival on the fourth
Sunday of Lent to honor Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. Later in England
the holiday included all mothers and was named Mothering Sunday. 