By Rosie Moore

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 1600s, 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.

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.

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. every year.

In 1907 Ann 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, businessmen, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother’s Day. It was successful and in 1911 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day 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.

“Happy Mother’s Day means more

Than have a happy day,

Within those words lie lots of things

We never get to say.

It means I love you first of all,

Then thanks  for all you do.

It means you mean a lot to me

And that I honor you.

But most all, I guess it means

That I am thinking of

Your happiness on this, your day,

With pleasure and with love.

Nicholas Gordon

Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere!