Mother’s Day As We Know It

For most of us, Mother’s Day is a day to honor, thank and pamper the mothers in our lives; but Mother’s Day as we know it today, started out a little differently.

In ancient cultures, people didn’t worship human mothers, but rather mother-like female deities. The Egyptians celebrated one of the first annual festivals in honor of the mother deity Isis. The Romans celebrated the Phrygian goddess, Cybele, and the Greeks celebrated Rhea, the Greek mother of the gods. Both the Roman and Greek celebrations occurred in the early spring.

Early Christians in Europe honored their “Mother Church” or the church in which they were baptized, on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In the 1600’s, a clerical decree in England expanded the celebration to include real mothers and was eventually named, “Mothering Day.” On this day, servants and workers were excused from work to visit their families. Mothers were presented with cakes and flowers.

The early settlers in America did not continue the tradition of “Mothering Day.” The first North American Mother’s Day originated with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870 celebrating peace and motherhood. June 2nd was eventually designated by women’s groups to celebrate this holiday.

Anna Reeves Jarvis continued this tradition with a Mother’s Friendship Day to re-unite families and neighbors who had been divided during the course of the Civil War. Her daughter, Anna M. Jarvis, petitioned Andrew’s Methodist Church in 1908 for an official Mother’s Day in honor of her mother and peace. On May 10, 1908, the first Mother’s Day celebration took place and all mothers in attendance received white carnations.

The Mother’s Day celebrations continued to spread across the United States. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed the holiday into national observance and declared the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day.

Today, Mother’s Day is one of the highest commercialized holidays. The National Retail Federation estimates Mother’s Day to be a $14 billion industry. According to Hallmark, 96% of the U.S. population shop for Mother’s Day and it is the second highest gift giving day of the year behind Christmas.

How did you celebrate Mother’s Day?

Contributed by: Ashley Hollingsworth