A special day for mothers
May 07, 2008
Motherhood is not defined merely through the process of giving birth, but rather by giving love, nurturing, and sacrifices both great and small. A mother's love for her children is unending, just as her prayers for their safety and well being are unending. She serves as a caregiver, teacher and role model, working tirelessly to help them realize their dreams and aspirations. The bond between mother and child is not always by blood, but love is the essence that secures this tie forever. How fitting that we have a special day set aside each year to honor that wonderful friend we call "Mother".
The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the ancient Greeks. Each spring they held a festival which was dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the great mother of the mythical gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, Mother of Christ. In England this holiday was eventually expanded to include all mothers and was called "Mothering Sunday". England was one of the first countries to set aside a day to recognize mothers in general. In the eighteenth century when many people worked as household servants for the rich, this special day was reserved for them to return home to be with their mothers.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent ( three weeks before Easter Sunday).
In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British celebration of "Mothering Sunday". The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. It was recognized as the day to honor motherhood at the national level when in 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.
Research indicates that in the United States, the idea of celebrating Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe as a day dedicated to peace. In what some refer to as her famous Mothers Day Proclamation, written in Boston in 1870, Julia Ward Howe wrote a passionate appeal to women and urged them to rise up against war. Some say that her document was not a proclamation about motherhood or her own mother, in the sense that Mother's Day is expressed today, but rather it was an anti-war movement in opposition to the Civil War. As the custom of Mother's Day spread, the emphasis shifted from the pacifism and reform movements to a general appreciation of mothers.
It has also been recorded that in 1907 Anna Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Anna invited several friends to her home in Philadelphia, in commemoration of her mother's life. On this occasion, she announced her idea of a special day of national celebration in honor of mothers. It would be known as "Mother's Day".
Another celebration organized by Jarvis on May 10, 1908 involved 407 children with their mothers at the Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton West VA, which is today's site of the International Mother's Day Shrine. This historic building has been designated a national historic Landmark.
However, before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the Mother's Day tradition. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group.
Former President Gerald Ford wrote that "there is no undertaking more challenging, no responsibility more awesome, than that of being a mother."
Red carnations are the official Mother's Day flower for those with living mothers, and white carnations for those whose mother is deceased. If you are among those blessed with the opportunity to wear a red carnation this Mother's Day, remember to let her know just how very special she is to you. If you are among those of us who must bear the white carnation, hold fast to your memories and know that she is still watching over you. Mothers are like that. For them, every day is a mother's day.
