Mother's
Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood,
maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on
various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March
or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as
Father's Day and Siblings Day.
In the
United States, celebration of Mother's Day began in the early 20th century. It
is not related to the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have
occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult
to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday
celebration (originally a commemoration of Mother Church, not motherhood). In
some countries, Mother's Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.
Establishment
of holiday
The modern
holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a
memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West
Virginia. Today St Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International
Mother's Day Shrine. Her campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized
holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves
Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded
soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother’s Day Work
Clubs to address public health issues. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother
by continuing the work she started and to set aside a day to honor all mothers,
because she believed that they were "the person who has done more for you
than anyone in the world".
In 1908,
the US Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday,
joking that they would have to proclaim also a "Mother-in-law's Day".
However, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all US states observed the
holiday, with some of them officially recognizing Mother's Day as a local
holiday, the first being West Virginia, Jarvis' home state, in 1910. In 1914,
Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the
second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.
Dates around the
world
While the United
States holiday was adopted by some other countries, existing celebrations, held
on different dates, honouring motherhood have become described as
"Mother's Day", such as Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom or, in
Greece, the Eastern Orthodox celebration of the presentation of Jesus Christ to
the temple (2 February of Julian Calendar). Both the secular and religious
Mother Day are present in Greece. Mothering Sunday is often referred to as
"Mother's Day" even though it is an unrelated celebration.
In some
countries, the date adopted is one significant to the majority religion, such
as Virgin Mary Day in Catholic countries. Other countries selected a date with
historical significance. For example, Bolivia's Mother's Day is the date of a
battle in which women participated.
Ex-communist
countries usually celebrated the socialist International Women's Day instead of
the more capitalist Mother's Day. Some ex-communist countries, such as Russia,
still follow this custom or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom
in Ukraine. Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced Mother's Day, but International
Women's Day remains a more widely popular holiday.
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