The History of Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day for celebrating everything our moms have done for us throughout the years. A mom is a special person because she gave birth to us, took care of us as children, and still takes care of us when we turn into adults. In my own opinion, mom's deserve to be celebrated every day because of the pain her children put her through from giving birth to raising a teenager and because of all of the sacrifices mom has made and still makes every day of our lives. Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday in May every year and this is the day we should think about giving her a special gift to show how much we care and appreciate everything mom has done for us. Check out this article for great gift ideas for mom on Mother's Day.

When Did Mother's Day Begin?

Mother's Day was first recognized when the ancient Greeks honored Rhea, the Mother of God's. During this same time, the early Christians started celebrating Mary, the Mother of Christ. Mother's Day was later expanded to honor all Mother's and was named "Mothering Sunday." Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the fourth Sunday of the Lent Season.

In England, the poor worked as servants for the wealthy and were given "Mothering Sunday" off to spend the day with their moms and make a special cake for Mothering Sunday called, "Mothering Cake."

As Christianity spread throughout Europe the tradition of Mother's Day changed to celebrate the "Mother Church." Over the years the tradition spread and blended with the church to use Mother's Day to celebrate the Church and Mother's both.

Sadly, as the first English settlers settled in America, the tradition of Mothering Sunday was discontinued because of the lack of time. However, Mother's Day was recognized again in the year of 1870 after the American Civil War by social activist Julia Ward Howe.

How and Why Was Mother's Day Recognized Again in 1870?

Julia Ward Howe started the tradition of Mother's Day again after witnessing the carnage of the American Civil War and the start of the Franco-Prussian War. Julia Ward Howe, being a poet as well as a social activist wrote the first proclamation calling all the women of the world to unite for peace. This Mother's Day proclamation written by Julia Ward Howe planted the first seed to start the tradition of Mother's Day.

After writing the Mother's Day proclamation, Julia Ward Howe had it translated into many languages and spent the next two years of her life reaching out and speaking to women leaders all over the world. Julia Ward Howe also wrote a book called Reminiscences and in this book Howe wrote, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they know and bear the cost"?

Julia Ward Howe devoted most of the next two years of her life to this special cause and began holding yearly Mother's Day celebrations in Boston, Massachusetts, and other places as well.

Thirty seven years after this proclamation was written in the year 1907, women's rights activist, Anna Jarvis began campaigning to establish Mother's Day as a nationally known Holiday. In the year 1914, four years after Julia Ward Howe's death, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day as a national holiday.

I think as we celebrate Mother's Day every year we should also celebrate the two women who started the Holiday and made it known that our mom's deserved a day for being celebrated. Every Mother's Day, think of Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis for starting and establishing the annual tradition of Mother's Day.

If you would like to know more about Julia Ward Howe, visit the website below for more information.

The History of Mother's Day