The origin of Mother’s Day

The Origin of Mother's Day

Although Mother's Day has only been officially celebrated for more than eighty years, the concept of finding a day to express high respect for mothers can be It goes back a long way. The ancient Greeks and Romans would hold "spring festivals" to express their respect for the "mother goddess" (generally referring to the female goddess).

Later, in medieval England, Lent was a religious activity of fasting or penitence held to commemorate Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness. The time was roughly from the end of February to the beginning of April each year. 〉The fourth Sunday is the so-called "Mother's Day". On that day, the grown-up children must go home with gifts for their mothers.

In order to promote peace, the female writer proposed to establish Mother's Day

In the United States, the female writer Julia Ward Hoyer, who is famous for writing "The War Hymn of the United States and the United States" , once suggested selecting a day in June as "Mother's Day". Due to the outbreak of the American Civil War, many mothers experienced the horror of war and the pain of losing their beloved children. Julia strongly advocated the establishment of a holiday to promote peace. Her suggestions are only adopted in a few places.

Soon, an American named Mrs. Jarvis organized a committee to sponsor the "Mother's Friendship Day" event in her hometown of Grafton, West Virginia. The purpose of this holiday is to unite families from the eastern states who fought for both the North and the South in the Civil War. Although Mrs. Jarvis's plan received local support, the idea of ??Mother's Day was not realized until after her death.

Anna inherited her legacy and realized her mother's ideal

Mrs. Jarvis died in Philadelphia on May 9, 1905 (the second Sunday of the month); A widow, she lives with her son Claude and her two daughters, Elsinore and Anna; Claude is a successful businessman, and Elsinore is almost blind.

Anna has always loved her mother, so after her mother died, she wanted to find a way to express her eternal respect for her mother and at the same time continue her mother's idea of ??establishing Mother's Day.

In 1907, she wrote to the pastor of Grafton Church, asking him to hold a special memorial service for her mother on the second anniversary of her death. On that day, Anna donated 500 white carnations, her mother's favorite flower, to all the children and mothers who attended the ceremony.

The next year, the church officially announced that the third anniversary of Mrs. Jarvis's death was Mother's Day. But she did not attend that day because she was busy organizing a Mother's Day committee in Philadelphia.

Launch a letter-writing campaign and establish Mother's Day as a national holiday

With the assistance of the committee, Anna began to launch a large-scale letter-writing campaign. She wrote to hundreds of churches, business leaders, newspaper editors, politicians and others asking them to join the campaign to make Mother's Day a national holiday.

In 1910, the governor of West Virginia responded to her request and issued a proclamation for the first Mother's Day, asking all West Virginians to On the second Sunday, wear white carnations to church. Oklahoma and Washington states also began celebrating Mother's Day that year. By 1911, Mother's Day services were held in all states across the United States.

Congress passed a resolution to designate the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day

Anna was so delighted that she decided to organize the "Mother's Day International Association", so starting from 1912, She devoted all her time and energy to promoting Mother's Day activities. Her efforts finally came to fruition on May 8, 1914, when Congress passed a joint resolution requiring Americans to fly the flag on the second Sunday in May that year to express their support for the entire United States. My mother’s unparalleled respect and love. The next morning, Anna became a guest at the White House and watched President Wilson sign the resolution. The president also gave Anna the signing pen.

By the 1920s, Anna had deeply rooted the concept of Mother's Day in 43 other countries.

Friends help Anna solve her difficulties in her later years

Anna has been living in Philadelphia with her brother Claude, and the two of them take care of Elsinore, who is completely blind. When Claude died in 1926, he left all his property to his two sisters. She originally thought that these properties would be enough to last them the rest of their lives, but the economic panic of the 1930s reduced the value of those properties to very little.

By the 1940s, Anna was penniless and, like Elsinore, nearly blind. She no longer had the strength or eyesight to write letters. One day in November 1943, she came to the General Hospital in Philadelphia and asked the hospital to take her in in the name of charity. After Anna's friends heard about her plight, they immediately arranged for her to be admitted to a private nursing home to receive proper care.

Later that year, Anna's friends wrote to the governors of each state, asking them to announce the celebration of Mother's Day again. Many governors responded and promised to make a special announcement every Mother's Day to show their importance to this holiday.

On November 24, 1948, eighty-four-year-old Anna died in a nursing home. Today, every Mother's Day, the President of the United States will re-declare the importance of this holiday to commemorate the great woman who almost single-handedly founded this international holiday - Anna Marie Weiss; and other countries are also holding celebrations on this day. Various programs and activities to celebrate Mother's Day.

The origin of Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a legal national holiday in the United States. Held on the second Sunday of May each year. Celebrating Mother's Day originated from the folk customs of ancient Greece. At that time, the ancient Greeks held grand celebrations every spring for the legendary mother of the gods and symbol of human mother-Sebia. But Mother's Day has not yet been formed.

Mother's Day was initiated by a woman named Jarvis and founded by her daughter Anna Jarvis.

Mrs. Jarvis was a mother of 10 children and the director of the Sunday School of Grafton City Church in the United States at that time. After the American Civil War, which aimed at liberating black slaves, ended, she was responsible for lecturing the U.S. Memorial Day curriculum in schools. Jarvis is a kind-hearted and compassionate woman. She told the stories of the heroes who sacrificed their lives for justice in the war. Looking at the childish faces of the children in the audience, an idea suddenly came to her mind: Having contributed so many brave warriors to the motherland, it is guaranteed that Aren’t the ones who won the war the ones who worked hard to raise their children? Aren't it also these unknown mothers whose sons were stained with blood on the battlefield and who endured the greatest pain and sacrifice? Therefore, she proposed that a memorial day or Mother's Day should be established to give these ordinary women some comfort and express the filial piety of their children towards their mothers. It is a pity that Mrs. Jarvis passed away before this good wish was realized. Her daughter Anna Jarvis witnessed her mother's hard work in raising herself and her siblings, and felt deeply that her mother's proposal was in line with the laws of nature and people's hearts. So she wrote dozens of letters and sent them to the U.S. Congress. Local governors and women's organizations, etc., proposed the creation of Mother's Day. After her repeated appeals, this proposal received widespread response and support from the society.

In 1914, U.S. President Wilson solemnly declared that the second Sunday in May each year, the anniversary of the death of Mrs. Jarvis, would be designated as Mother's Day. The U.S. government also stipulates that on Mother's Day, every household must fly the national flag to show respect for mothers. Because Mrs. Jarvis loved carnations during her lifetime, this flower became a symbol of Mother's Day.

Mother's Day is a festival full of human warmth. On this day, the male members of the family have to do all the housework, and the children each have to do something to make their mother happy as a filial piety. . Even children who are far away from home should call their mothers to congratulate them. On this day, Americans wear a flower on their chest. If the mother is still alive, wear a colored flower to express happiness; if the mother is dead, wear a white flower to express grief.

After the creation of Mother's Day, it has also received support from people all over the world. When Anna Jarvis was alive, Mother's Day had been established in 43 countries. Today, more countries celebrate this festival. Mother's Day has become a truly international holiday. Traditionally, "International Mother's Day" is held on May 11 every year.

Mother’s Day in Japan is also the second Sunday in May. During the festival, people give mothers a branch of red dianthus to express their congratulations.

Mother's Day was first celebrated in France in 1928, and the festival was held on the last Sunday in May. On this holiday day, millions of mothers accept the best wishes of "Happy Holidays" from their children with joy.

Thailand declared August 12 as Mother’s Day in 1976. This day is also the birthday of Queen Li Ji of Thailand.

During the festival, a selection activity for “Excellent Mothers” will be held across the country. The sons and daughters held fragrant jasmine flowers and dedicated them to their mothers.

Mother's Day in many countries in the Arab region is celebrated on March 21, the "Spring Equinox". Local people believe that the "Vernal Equinox" is the beginning of spring and the beginning of the year, which expresses the greatness of the mother. The Portuguese Mother's Day is on December 8th; while Indonesian Mother's Day is on December 22nd.

Mother's Day is a regional festival in our country. This festival was first held in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. After the reform and opening up, Mother's Day has also been accepted by the mainland. Starting in 1988 in Guangdong Province and in 1989 in Hangzhou and other cities, women's federations at all levels organized Mother's Day celebrations and included the selection of "good mothers" as one of the elements of the festival.

The festival originated in ancient Greece. On this day, the ancient Greeks paid homage to Hera, the mother of the Greek gods. In ancient Rome, the scale of these activities became larger, and the celebrations often lasted for three days. Of course, people's worship of goddesses in ancient times was just a kind of superstition, which is very different from today's respect for motherhood. In the mid-17th century, Mother's Day spread to the United Kingdom, and the British regarded the fourth Sunday of Lent as Mother's Day. On this day, young people who have been away from home will return home and bring some small gifts to their mothers.

Modern Mother's Day originated in the United States and was initiated by Anna Jarvis (1864-1948). She remained unmarried and stayed with her mother. Anna Jarvis's mother was kind-hearted and extremely compassionate. She proposed that a memorial day should be established to commemorate the mothers who made contributions in obscurity. However, she died before this wish was realized. Her daughter Anna Jarvis began organizing events in 1907 to apply for Mother's Day to become an official holiday. The festival officially started on May 10, 1908 in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the United States. She personally arranged ceremonies and organized activities in the church, and required attendees to wear white dianthus flowers on their chests. This activity has aroused the attention and interest of many people. The next year, more churches organized similar activities.

In 1911, activities to celebrate Mother's Day had become very widespread, not only sweeping every state in the United States of America, but also Canada, Mexico and some countries in South America. The Americans also printed and distributed leaflets promoting Mother's Day to various countries in ten different languages ????in order to expand their influence. In the following years, the movement to celebrate Mother's Day continued to grow. In 1912, the United States of America established the International Mother's Day Association. In May 1913, the House of Representatives of the United States of America unanimously passed a resolution calling on the president, as well as all officials of the cabinet, the House and Senate, and the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914, the Congress of the United States of America officially named the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and asked the president to issue a proclamation calling on government officials to fly the national flag on all public buildings. Immediately afterwards, President Wilson announced that citizens across the country should also hang flags on their homes to express people's love and respect for all mothers in the United States of America. Since then, the President of the United States of America has issued a proclamation with the same content every year.

In 1913, the U.S. Congress designated the second Sunday in May each year as the statutory Mother's Day, and stipulated that every household on this day must fly the national flag to express respect for mothers. And Anna Jarvis’s mother’s favorite carnation has become a symbol of Mother’s Day