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The Story of Mother's Day

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England.
*(For more information on Lent/Easter check out - Easter on the Net)
During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.



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As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival 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 in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year.

In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis 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. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

[edit] Mother's Days in various parts of the world
Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mothers day" shows two major blips, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.[3]

second Sunday in February Norway
Shevat 30 (falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1) Israel
March 3 Georgia
March 8 Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam. The date coincides with the International Women's Day.
fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday - March 18 in 2007) Ireland, United Kingdom
March 21 (first day of spring) Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
March 25 Slovenia
April 7 Armenia
first Sunday in May Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain
May 8 South Korea, Albania (Parents' Day)
May 10 much of South America, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore
second Sunday in May
see: Mother's Day (United States) Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados,Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe
May 26 Poland
May 27 Bolivia
last Sunday in May France (except if it coincides with Pentecost day, in which case Mother's Day will be shifted to the first Sunday of June), Dominican Republic, Haiti, Sweden
May 30 Nicaragua
August 12 Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara)
August 15 (Assumption Day) Antwerp (Belgium), Costa Rica
second or third Sunday in October Argentina (Día de la Madre)
last Sunday in November Russia
December 8 Panama
December 22 Indonesia
20th Jumada al-thani (also called Women's Day) Iran and other Muslim peoples, especially Shias. The date is the (disputed) birthday of Fatima Zahra. The Islamic calendar is lunar so it cycles relative to the Western calendar.