History of Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is widely celebrated across many countries in the world. Today, when we celebrate Mother’s Day, we celebrate it as a thanksgiving to our mothers.  However, this hasn’t always been the case in history. This is reflected by the different days we celebrate Mother’s Day across the world. Let’s see how Mother’s Day have been celebrated across history.



Approximately 250 BC
The Romans celebrate Mother’s Day in celebration of the mother goddess, Cybele. Then Mother’s Day was known as Hilaria, which lasted for 3 days. It was celebrated with parades, games and masquerades.

About the same time, Greeks honoured Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of the gods and goddess of Greek mythology.

1600s
The English started celebrating Mother’s Day on the 4th Sunday of Lent. Till today, Mother’s Day is still celebrated on that day in the United Kingdom. Mother’s Day is known as Mothering Sunday there, and is a celebration to honour the Virgin Mary.

It was also a celebration of the mother church. On Mothering Sunday, servants and apprentices and other employees  working away from home were given leave to visit their ‘mother’ church. Hence on that Sunday, children and young people served the church.

Mothering Sunday was also celebrated with the giving of simnel, a special fruit cake or a fruit-filled pastry. Children would also bring flowers to pay tribute to their own mothers. This was the start of how we celebrate Mother’s Day today.

However, the celebration of Mothering Sunday almost completely died out in the 19th century.

1872
In the United States, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, first lead a campaign for national recognition of Mother’s Day.

1900s
In 1907, Mother’s Day was instigated again in the United States by the daughter of a peace activist. Anna Jarvis’ mother, also Anna Jarvis, had tried to start up Mother’s Friendship Days as a means of dealing with the aftermath of the Civil War. Anna (senior) has passed away 2 years prior. Anna (junior) started a campaign to create a national holiday to honour mothers by writing to ministers, business people and politicians.

By 1914, President Woodrowy Wilson declared the 2nd Sunday of May as Mother’s Day. Anna (junior) used the giving of white carnations, symbolising sweetness, purity and the enduring mother’s love. Till today in the United States, white carnations are given to a mother who has passed away and a red carnation to a living mother.

By 1923, Anna Jarvis became very upset over the over-commercialisation of Mother’s Day. She filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother’s Day even. She was even arrested as she was disturbing the peace at a Mother’s Day event.

Today – 2010s
Today, we celebrate Mother’s Day as a thanksgiving celebration for our mother’s and their work in our lives. Gifts and treats are given, which has lead to Mother’s Day being highly commercialised. Common gifts and treats include flowers, chocolates, and dinner out with the family.

Happy Mother’s Day, mummy. We love you. And Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there.

References

To subscribe to my blog, please Like on our Facebook page.
To support my blog, please click on one of my sponsor's advertised links :)


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

COVID-19 Stay-at-home Day 6: Kimchi Pork Stew Recipe

COVID-19 Stay at Home Day 7: Crispy Rice Cakes Recipe

COVID-19 Stay at Home Day 9: Souffle Egg Omelette Garlic Chives Recipe