Mother's Day Honors Our Own Mothers & the Maternal Bonds of Motherhood
Mother’s Day is celebrated
in one form or another on various days throughout the world but most commonly
in March or May. In the U.S., the day celebrates
our own mothers as well as honors the glory of motherhood and
the loving influence mothers have on our society.
The “mother” of Mother’s
Day is Anna Jarvis who held the first ceremony on May 10, 1908 in honor of her
own mother, who had died three years earlier, as well as for all mothers. Celebrations were held in Philadelphia where
Anna was living at the time and also at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church
in Grafton, West Virginia, where her mother had attended services. As the site of the first official observance,
the Andrews Church was later incorporated as the International Mother's Day Shrine
on May 15, 1962.
Ms. Jarvis and her
supporters campaigned for a national holiday and Mother’s Day became an officially
observed event when President Woodrow Wilson known as the “father” of Mother’s
Day, signed the proclamation on May 9, 1914.
It declared the second Sunday of May to be “a public expression of our
love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”
Historians believe that Anna
Jarvis’ inspiration for starting Mother’s Day came from her mother Ann Reeves
Jarvis’s closing prayer during one of her Sunday school lessons. It states: “I hope and pray that someone,
sometime, will found a memorial mother’s day commemorating her for the
matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is
entitled to it.” In the mid-19th
century, Ann Reeves Jarvis had helped to start the “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs”
that served to teach the local women of West Virginia on how to properly care for
their children.
The ancient Greeks and
Romans also celebrated mothers and motherhood by holding festivals in honor of
the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. In
addition early Christians celebrated the fourth Sunday in Lent with a festival
they called “Mothering Sunday,” which was the time for folks to return to their
main or “mother” church for special services.
Through time the festival became more secular and children would give
their mothers flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually became a part of our
Mother’s Day celebrations during the 1930s and 40s.
Anna Jarvis spend much of
her later years upset about the commercialization of the holiday (or perhaps by
the fact that she did not financially benefit from it), but to those of us who
are daughters, sons and husbands of mothers, it is a special event. It is the time to reflect on the many joys of
motherhood and to be thankful to the women who raised us and grateful for their
many sacrifices.
We express our love to our
mother through visits, cards and phone calls (more phone calls are made on
Mother’s Day than on any other day of the year). From enjoying a meal together, or presenting
her with flowers and other tokens of our love and appreciation, we want our
mothers to know how special they are to us!
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history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day
time.com/4771354/mothers-day-history-origins/
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