subject: Brief History of Mother's Day [print this page] Brief History of Mother's Day Brief History of Mother's Day
Mother's Day is one of the international festivals nowadays. People show their love to their beloved mothers in different ways from Asia to Europe. But do you know how this day came into existence; when was it first observed or who celebrated it first?
The origin of Mother's day can be traced back to the celebration of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, the early Christians in England celebrated a day to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. By a religious order the holiday was later expanded in its scope to include all mothers, and named as the Mothering Sunday.
When Christianity spread around the world, the celebration was changed to honor the "Mother Church". And after a long time, the church celebration 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 after the American Civil War by social activist Julia Ward Howe. Despite having penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic 12 years earlier, Howe had become so distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War that she called on Mother's to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mothers. With the following, she called for an international Mother's Day celebrating peace and motherhood.
It was Anna Jarvis, who finally succeeded in introducing Mother's Day in the sense as we celebrate it today. Anna spent many years looking after her ailing mother, and for this she remained a spinster. When her mother died, she really missed her greatly. Anna felt children often neglected to appreciate their mother enough while the mother was still alive. So she intended to start a Mother's Day, as an honoring of the mothers. She decided to dedicate her life to her mother's cause and to establish Mother's Day to "honor mothers, living and dead." She started the campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. With her friends, she started a letter-writing campaign to urge ministers, businessmen and congressmen in declaring a national Mother's Day holiday. She hoped Mother's Day would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.
As a result of her efforts the first mother's day was observed on May 10, 1908. And as time passes, people begin to appreciate and honor motherhood and express their love to their mothers with mother's day gifts. So, how do you get for your mother this year?
