Mother's Day, May 11th, 2008

The earliest celebration of Mother's Day can be traced back to ancient Greece, a spring celebration in honor of Rhea, the mother of all Gods. 

Later, during the 16th century, England celebrated "Mothering Sunday", which fell on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter). During that time, many people worked in households as servants for the wealthy, and this day was set aside for them to visit and be with their mothers. A special cake, named the "Mothering Cake" was often brought along to add a festive touch. This custom has stopped during the Industrial Revolution as the living and working pattern of the people changed. 

Mothering Sunday was changed to honor "Mother Church", -- the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm,  when Christianity spread throughout Europe. Eventually the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration and people began honoring the church as well as their mothers.

Mother's Day in the United States began its début in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (she wrote the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic")    and she dedicated that day to peace. She held organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston. Others would hold Mother's Day meetings in their own town. 

Mother's Day did not really catch on until 1907. Anna Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began to campaign to establish Mother's Day. She persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia, to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. Her mother provided strength, support and courage when the family made their home in West Virginia and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were her father served as a minister. Anna's mother was also dedicated in finding ways to heal the wounds left behind by the Civil War. 
Anna, as a little girl, enjoyed helping her mothers take care of their garden, mostly filled with white carnations, Anna's mother favorite flowers.

Anna's mother died on May 5th, 1905, and in her determination, two years after her mother's death, she asked the minister of her church in West Virginia, to dedicate a sermon in her mother's memory. The sermon was held not only in  her mother memory, but also to honor all mothers around the world with a special Mother's Day service. 

Anna and her supporters were writing to congressmen asking to set aside a special day to honor mothers. Eventually, the governor of West Virginia proclaimed in the year of 1910, that the second Sunday in May is "Mother's Day". The following year, every State celebrated Mother's Day. It took another four years (1914), when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day as an official Holiday in the United States. 

Our known traditions started during the years, such as serving breakfast in bed for mother's, children would make or later buy gifts for their mothers. Adults would honor their mother's with red carnations, the official Mother's Day flower.

Many countries in the world followed the tradition of celebrating Mother's Day, some hold it on the second Sunday in May.

IN HONOR OF OUR MOTHERS

A mother's arms are made of  tenderness and children sleep soundly in them. -- Victor Hugo All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. -- Abraham Lincoln A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when trouble thicken around us, still she will cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to our hearts. -- Washington Irving A mother had a slender, small body,  but a large heart --- a heart so large that everybody's grief  and everybody's joy found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation. -- Mark Twain The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the highest standards and is content with nothing less than his best. -- Hamilton Wright Mabie