Mother's DayFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about a holiday celebrating mothers and motherhood. For other uses, see Mother's Day (disambiguation).

Mother's Day

A mother posing with her card

Observed by Many countries

Type Secular

Significance Honors mothers and motherhood

Date Many dates; most commonly the second Sunday of

May

Frequency Annual

Related to Children's Day, Siblings Day,Father's Day, Parents'

Day

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day and Siblings Day.

The celebration of Mother's Day began in the United States in the early 20th century; it is not related to the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a celebration of the mother church, not motherhood).[1][2][3][4] Despite this, in some countries Mother's Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.[5]

Contents  [hide] 

1   Founding (US)

2   Spelling

3   Dates around the world

4   International history and tradition

o 4.1   Religion

o 4.2   By country (A–G)

o 4.3   By country (H–M)

o 4.4   By country (N–S)

o 4.5   By country (T–Z)

5   See also

6   Notes

o 6.1   Footnotes

o 6.2   Citations

7   References

Founding (US)[edit]Main article: Mother's Day (United States)

The modern American holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. Her campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her beloved mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Anna’s mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she had started and to set aside a day to honor mothers, "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world." Anna's mother, Ann Jarvis, was a peace activist who had cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.

Due to the campaign efforts of Anna Jarvis, several states officially recognized Mother's Day, the first in 1910 being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation creating Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers. In a thank-you note to Wilson, Jarvis wrote of a “great Home Day of our country for sons and daughters to honor their mothers and fathers and homes in a way that will perpetuate family ties and give emphasis to true home life.” [6] Jarvis became critical, however, of the commercialization of the day.[7]

Spelling[edit]In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association.[8] She specifically noted that "Mother's" should "be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers of the world."[9] This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his 1914 presidential proclamation, by the U.S. Congress in relevant bills,[10][11] and by various U.S. presidents in their proclamations concerning Mother's Day.[12] However, "Mothers' Day" (plural possessive) or "Mothers Day" (plural non-possessive) are also sometimes seen.

Dates around the world[edit]

As the United States holiday was adopted by other countries and cultures, the date was changed to fit already existing celebrations honoring motherhood, such asMothering Sunday in the United Kingdom or, in Greece, the Orthodox celebration of the presentation of Jesus Christ to the temple (2 February of Julian Calendar). Both the secular and religious Mother Day are present in Greece. Mothering Sunday is often referred to as "Mother's Day" even though it is an unrelated celebration.[5]

In some countries the date was changed to a date that was significant to the majority religion, such as Virgin Mary Day in Catholic countries. Other countries selected a date with historical significance. For example, Bolivia's Mother's Day is the date of a battle in which women participated.[13] See the "International history and tradition" section for the complete list.

Ex-communist countries usually celebrated the socialist International Women's Day instead of the more capitalist Mother's Day.[14] Some ex-communist countries, such as Russia, still follow this custom[15] or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom in Ukraine. Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced Mother's Day, but International Women's Day remains a more widely popular holiday.