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Originally conceived by Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War as a day honoring (in her opinion) the inherent pacifism
of mothers, Mother's Day now simply celebrates motherhood and thanking mothers. Mothers often receive gifts on this day.
Mother's Days are celebrated on various days of the year in different countries because they have a number of different
origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a 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. In most countries, Mother's Day is a new concept copied from western civilization. In many African
countries, Mother's Day has its origins in copying the British concept. |
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In most of East Asia, Mother's Day is a heavily
marketed and commercialised concept copied straight from Mother's Day in the USA. Some historians believe that the earliest
celebrations of Mother's Day was the ancient spring festival dedicated to mother goddesses. The ancient Greek empire had a
spring festival honoring Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of the gods and goddesses. In Rome there was a Mother's Day-like
festival dedicated to the worship of Cybele, also a mother goddess. Ceremonies in her honor began some 250 years before
Christ was born. This Roman religious celebration, known as Hilaria, lasted for three days - from March 15 to 18. As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave
them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People
began honoring their mothers as well as the church. In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia
Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized
Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year. |
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Mothering Sunday :
In contrast to Mother's Day, Mothering Sunday is not a celebration of motherhood, but a synonym of Laetare Sunday.
During the 16th century, people returned to their "mother church" for a service to be held on the 4th Sunday of Lent. This
was either a large local church, or more often the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone
'a-mothering' although whether this preceded the term Mothering Sunday is unclear. It was often the only time that whole
families could gather together, if prevented by conflicting working hours. The other names attributed to this festival
include Simnel Sunday, Refreshment Sunday and Rose Sunday. This is due to the practice of baking Simnel cakes to celebrate
the reuniting of families during the austerity of Lent. Because there is traditionally a lightening of Lenten vows on this
particular Sunday in celebration of the fellowship of family and church, the lesser-used label of Refreshment Sunday is also
used, although rarely today. Rose Sunday is sometimes used as an alternate title for Mothering Sunday as well, as is
witnessed by the purple robes of Lent being replaced in some churches by rose coloured ones. This title refers to the
tradition of posies of flowers being collected and distributed at the service originally to all the mothers, but latterly to
all women in the congregation. The Catholic Encyclopedia, however, asserts that "the Golden Rose, sent by the popes to
Catholic sovereigns, used to be blessed at this time, and for this reason the day was sometimes called 'Dominica de Rosa'".
Another tradition associated with Mothering Sunday is the practice of 'church clipping' whereby the congregation form a ring
around their church building and holding hands, embrace it. For some Church of England churches, it is the only day in Lent
when marriages can be celebrated. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off
to visit their mother and other family members. In today's more secular times, it is generally celebrated as the British
equivalent of America's Mother's Day.
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Historians believe that our modern day tradition of honouring our mothers dates back to the ancient cultures of Greece and
Rome. Mother goddesses were worshipped in both of these cultures during the spring and in religious festivals. Rhea, powerful
goddess and wife of Cronus, was also known as Mother of the Gods. There is evidence of a mid-March festival to honour the
Roman goddess Magna Mater, or Great Mother which dates back to 250 BC. The celebration of the "Mother Church" replaced the
pagan festivals during the spread of Christianity throughout Europe. Since it was believed that the Mother Church was
spiritual power that gave life and protected from harm it was customary for people to bring gifts to the church. In Europe
during the middle Ages, the fourth Sunday in lent became known as mothering Sunday. Most poor folk were employed as servants
of wealthy landowners, and therefore forced to live in the home of their employer. They were allowed to return home on the
fourth Sunday in Lent, and often brought small gifts or a "mothering cake" also known as Simnel Cake. The cakes, prepared
ahead used dried fruit, as these would keep and travel well during the journey home, which would have been made on foot, or
if one was fortunate, by horse and cart. "I think it must somewhere be written that the virtues of mothers shall be visited
on their children, as well as the sins of their fathers." Charles Dickens Modern tradition of Mother's Day. |
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The contributions of Anna M. Jarvis, Julia Ward Howe & Juliet Calhoun Blakeley :
Julia Ward Howe, author of the words of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, was the first person to suggest that America
adopt a day when all mothers should be honoured. She saw Mother's Day as a day dedicated to peace. The suggestion was not
taken seriously however, although she held Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Massachusetts every year. The celebration of
Mother's Day as a holiday in the United States is attributed to Mrs. Anna Jarvis, who dedicated her life to promoting the
holiday. She was inspired by her own mother's devotion to the raising of a family of eleven children. On the second
anniversary of her mother's death, the second Sunday in May, Anna Jarvis convinced her mother's parish in West Virginia to
hold a celebration of Mother's Day. The church was decorated with her mother's favourite flower, the white carnation, a
symbol of sweetness, purity and endurance. Mother's Day - the day of flowers The white carnation was originally worn to
symbolize a mother who has passed away and a red carnation for one who is living. However, many other flowers are now
accepted as being significant on Mother's Day. In 1910, West Virginia officially recognized Mother's Day, and in 1914,
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it a national holiday. |
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In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day
to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She
called it "Mother's Work Day". In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize
the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which
she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none
for mothers". Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and
Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to
celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white
carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal
government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill
recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday. At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters
to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, 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. |
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The first person to fight for an official Mother's Day celebration in the United States was Julia Ward Howe. In the United
States, Julia Ward Howe suggested the idea of Mother's Day in 1872. She wrote her Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870. Julia
Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a
day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone
else. She was active in the peace movement and the women's suffrage movement. In 1870 she penned the Mother's Day
Proclamation. In 1872 the Mothers' Peace Day Observance on the second Sunday in June was held and the meetings continued for
several years. Her idea was widely accepted, but she was never able to get the day recognized as an official holiday. |
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The original Mother's Day Proclamation :
The Mothers' Peace Day was the beginning of the Mothers' Day holiday in the United States now celebrated in May. Here is
the Proclamation that explains, in her own powerful words, the goals of the original Mother's Day in the United States :
Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosum of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
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On May 13, 1877, the second Sunday of the month, Juliet Calhoun Blakeley stepped into the pulpit of the Methodist-Episcopal
Church and completed the sermon for the Reverand Myron Daughterty. According to local legend, Daughterty was distraught
because an anti-temperance group had forced his son to spend the night in a saloon. Proud of their mother's achievement,
Charles and Moses Blakeley encouraged other to pay tribute to their mothers. In the 1880's the Albion Methodist church began
celebrating Mother's Day in Blakeley's honor. |
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The First Mother's Day :
The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis, held at Anna Jarvis's request in
Grafton, West Virginia, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1908. Carnations, her mother's favorite flowers, were
supplied at that first service by Miss Jarvis. White carnations were chosen because they represented the sweetness, purity
and endurance of mother love. Red carnations, in time, became the symbol of a living mother. White ones now signify that
one's mother has died. |
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Official Proclamation :
The House of Representatives in May, 1913, unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the President, his Cabinet,
members of Congress, and all officials of the federal government to wear a white carnation on Mother's Day. Congress passed
another Joint Resolution May 8, 1914, designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. The U.S. flag is to be displayed
on government buildings and at people's homes "as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our
country." President Woodrow Wilson issued the first proclamation making Mother's Day an official national holiday.
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