The History of Mother’s Day
Even though Mother’s Day has become a commercialized holiday in the past 100 years, it has not always been so. Various individuals believe that this special day was designed as another holiday for products and services. It is recorded as the highest payday of the year for restaurant sales and phone calls. Everyone feels that they need to spend money to show their mothers how special and appreciated they are. This is not true.
The tradition of Mother’s Day started thousands of years ago. It has grown and developed through each country over the many years. This day is celebrated
in every country, however not always at the same time each year.
This celebration began with the Greeks and Romans. They dedicated an offering to Rhea and Cybele. These famous women were mothers to various different deities. They were celebrated with a spring festival each year. Soon after, the Christians began to celebrate Mary through a festival in Lent.
Then England started the tradition, which they referred to this day as “Mothering Sunday”. Various peasants worked for very wealthy individuals. They usually lived on the premises and were not able to visit their family often.
On this celebrated day, the employers gave their workers time off to visit their mothers. When Christianity spread through Europe, they joined Mother’s Day together. It was then known as “Mother Church”. This was a day to celebrate the church and the mothers together on one day of the year.
In 1872 the quest for Mother’s day began in the United States. Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the famous “Battle Hymn Of The Republic”, requested mothers to speak up against war and offered peace to the masses. Anna Jarvis was a spokeswomen and mentor for healing after the Civil War.
When she died, her daughter, Anna, began rallying to honor all mother’s past, present and future. Anna started a campaign with her mother’s church to begin the process towards a national holiday. The advocates of this mission wrote letters to important individuals in the United States. Mother’s Day was starting to become a holiday in various states. With the determination of one woman and the supporters she gathered, in 1914 President Wilson signed a bill for a national mother’s holiday.
This time of year is on the second Sunday of each May. After Anna’s extraordinary accomplishments, Mother’s Day started to become rather marketable. This method infuriated the individual that worked long and hard to give a special day to mothers around the country.
This upset Anna so much that she began trying to sue a city that was hosting a Mother’s Day festival. She was also arrested on a certain occasion for disturbing the peace while a mothers’ group was selling war flowers. It was rumored that Anna stated a few days before she passed away that she was disappointed in how Mother’s Day was heavily commercialized and Anna wished she did not start her crusades to have this day nationally recognized.
Mother’s Day is a fabulous time to spend with the family. It is a day dedicated to all the hard work and sacrifices that moms do during their lifetime. It is also to celebrate the wonders and amazing feats for women past, present and future.
The holiday is for these wonderful ladies. It is not for the companies that make a substantial profit off this time of year. This Mother’s Day, an individual should show their feelings by the little things, not necessarily expensive gifts and dinner.
Jane Saeman has a Chocolate Fountain catering business. She goes to lots of parties and comes back with lots of ideas. Read about some of them on her blog at http://www.ChocolateFountainDecadenceSite.com
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