IN FRATERNAM MEAM: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY THIS SUNDAY 8TH MAY

IN FRATERNAM MEAM

Friday, May 06, 2005

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY THIS SUNDAY 8TH MAY

ANCIENT GREEK CELEBRATION GAVE BIRTH TO MOTHER'S DAY

MOTHER'S DAY is a holiday that is celebrated across the country and around the world. However, have you ever thought about the tradition behind the day?

The earliest Mother's Day celebration can be traced to the spring celebration of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday" on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40-day period leading up to Easter) Mothering Sunday honored the mothers of England.

During this time, many of England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their houses, the servants lived at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday, servants had the day off and were encouraged to return home to 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 Christians 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. Howe organized Mother's Day meeting in Boston every year.

In 1907, Anna Jarvis, of Philadelphia, campainged to establish a national Mother's Day. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, W. Va. to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the second Sunday of May. By the next year, Mother's day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

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

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

(abstracted from Metro Creative Graphics Report)

posted by infraternam meam @ 3:33 AM

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