Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother's Day is the early Christian festival known as "Mothering Sunday."
A day to honor mothers has existed for as long as, well, there have been mothers. Festivals honoring mothers in ancient times were often tied to gods and goddesses and maternal symbols of fertility, birth, creativity, and cycles of growth. The mother is the protector and nourisher of children and, by extension, of all humanity. The Phrygians held a festival for Cybele, the Great Mother of the Gods. The Greeks and Romans also honored the mother figure of their gods. Even today, an important festival in India, Durga-puja, honors the goddess Durga.
During the Middle Ages, people would return to their home or "mother" church once a year during the middle of Lent. (Back then, children would often leave to work at the tender age of 10!) Historians theorize that it was the return to the "mother" church that led to the tradition of children getting the day off to visit their mother and family.
In 16th-century England, this celebration became "Mothering Sunday." Children—mainly daughters who had gone to work as domestic servants—would be given the day off on the fourth Sunday of Lent to return to their mothers and home parish. The eldest son or daughter would bring a "mothering cake," which would be cut and shared by the entire family. Family reunions were the order of the day, with sons and daughters assuming all household duties and preparing a special dinner in honor of their mother. Sometime during the day, the mother would attend special church services with her family.
Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their "mother church"—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.
Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation.
The origins of Mother's Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start "Mothers' Day Work Clubs" to teach local women how to properly care for their children.
These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized "Mothers' Friendship Day," at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
Another precursor to Mother's Day came from the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe wrote the "Mother's Day Proclamation," a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. In 1873 Howe campaigned for a "Mother's Peace Day" to be celebrated every June 2.
The official Mother's Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother's 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother's Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
The present-day celebration of Mother's Day began in the year 1908 when Anna Jarvis organized a memorial for her mother, Ann Jarvis, a peace activist who used to care the wounded soldiers of the American Civil War. The event was held at the St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which currently holds the International Mother's Day Shrine.
Anna Jarvis began the task of getting support for the celebration of Mother's Day in the United States in 1905 after her mother died the same year. She wanted to honor all the mothers of the world who have done a lot for their family and society.
Due to her continuous efforts, most of the US states by 1911 started celebrating Mother's Day as a local holiday and the West Virginia, the home state of Jarvis became the first state to declare the holiday for the occasion in the year 1910. Finally, the second Sunday of May was officially designated as Mother's Day in the USA and was declared as a national holiday after Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of United States of America signed the proclamation in the year 1914. In this way, the present Mother's Day came into existence in the USA and the same date is also selected by countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Italy, Singapore, Belgium, and a lot more other countries.
Mother's Day is an occasion which is celebrated in various parts of the world to express respect, honor, and love towards mothers. The day is an event to honor the contribution of mothers, acknowledge the efforts of maternal bonds and the role of mothers in our society. Although, different countries celebrate the occasion on different dates, the common months of the celebrations are March or May. Mother's Day is a similar effort like other celebrations like Father's Day, Siblings Day, Grandparents Day and others.
It is a day which makes people remember the importance and significance of mothers in their life and is observed as a day to give special emphasis to the motherly figures around the world.
While versions of Mother's Day are celebrated worldwide, traditions vary depending on the country. In Thailand, for example, Mother's Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen, Sirikit.
Another alternate observance of Mother's Day can be found in Ethiopia, where families gather each fall to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood.
In the United States, Mother's Day continues to be celebrated by presenting mothers and other women with gifts and flowers, and it has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. Families also celebrate by giving mothers a day off from activities like cooking or other household chores.
At times, Mother's Day has also been a date for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968 Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King, Jr., used Mother's Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children. In the 1970s women's groups also used the holiday as a time to highlight the need for equal rights and access to childcare.
