Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day honoring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honouring fathers.

History

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.

One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March.

The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, which was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.

In some countries Mother's Day began not as a celebration for individual mothers but rather for Christians.

Mothering Sunday in Britain and Ireland

Mothering Sunday, also called "Mothers' Day" in the United Kingdom and Ireland falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday). It is believed to have originated from the 16th century Christian practice of visiting one's mother church annually, which meant that most mothers would be reunited with their children on this day. Most historians believe that young apprentices and young women in servitude were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families. As a result of secularization, it is now principally used to celebrate and give thanks for mothers, although it is still recognized in the historical sense by some churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus as well as the traditional concept 'Mother Church'.

Mothering Sunday can fall at earliest on March 1st (in years when Easter Day falls on March 22nd) and at latest on April 4th (when Easter Day falls on April 25th).

Mother's Day in the United States

The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday school. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

For example, according to IBIS World, a publisher of business research, Americans will spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts — like spa treatments — and another $68 million on greeting cards. Mother's Day will generate about 7.8% of the US jewelry industry's annual revenue in 2008. Americans are expected to spend close to $3.51 billion in 2008 on dining out for Mother's Day, with brunch and dinner being the most popular dining out options.

Mother's Day in various parts of the world

In most countries, Mother's Day is a new concept copied from western civilization. In many African countries, the idea of one Mother's Day has its origins in copying the British concept, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that have been there centuries before the colonials arrived. In Japan, Mother's Day is a heavily marketed concept.

Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mother's day" shows two major blips, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent (it is also called ladies day and women's day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.

Mother's Day in various regions:

Second Sunday in February: Norway

February 2: Greece. Corresponds to the Eastern Orthodox feast day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Since the Theotokos (The Mother of God) appears prominently in this feast as the one who brought Christ to the Temple at Jerusalem, this feast is associated with mothers. However, today many Greeks are beginning to observe Mother's Day as rendered by the West.

Shevat 30 (falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1): Israel

March 3: Georgia

March 8: Afghanistan, Albania*, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,Laos, Macedonia*, Moldova*, Montenegro, Romania*, Russia*, Serbia**, Ukraine, Republic of China (Taiwan), South Korea, and Vietnam. *In Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Guyana, Italy, Macedonia, Mongolia, Russia, and Ukraine it is observed as International Women's Day, not specifically Mothers' day.

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday - March 2 in 2008): Ireland, Nigeria, United Kingdom

March 21 (vernal equinox): Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (All Arab countries in general)

March 25: Slovenia

April 7: Armenia

April 2 (Chinese calendar)*: China

Baisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi): Nepal

First Sunday in May: Hungary, Lithuania*, Portugal, Spain

May 8: Albania (Parents' Day), South Korea (Parents' Day).

May 10: El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico

Second Sunday in May - (May 11 in 2008): Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia*, Malta, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, South Africa, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Suriname, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

May 15: Paraguay

May 26: Poland

May 27: Bolivia

Last Sunday in May: Algeria, Dominican Republic, France (except if it coincides with Pentecost day, in which case Mother's Day will be shifted to the first Sunday of June), Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Sweden, Tunisia.

May 30: Nicaragua

June 1: Mongolia (The Mothers and Children's Day. Mongolia is the only country that celebrates Mother's day twice a year.)

2^nd Sunday of June: Luxembourg

Last Sunday of June: Kenya

August 12: Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara)

August 15 (Assumption Day): Antwerp (Belgium), Costa Rica

Second Monday in October: Malawi

October 14: Belarus

Third Sunday in October: Argentina (Día de la Madre)

Last Sunday of November: Russia

December 8: Panama

16 December, Iranian calendar: 25 Azar (Mother And Child Foundation): Iran

December 22: Indonesia

• Lithuania and Latvia celebrate both Mother's Day in the first week of May, and Women's Day on the 8th of March. In these countries, they are separate celebrations.
• In China, in recent years some people began to advocate Mother's Day for memory of Meng Mu, the mother of Mèng Zǐ. It's still not an official festival except in very few cities.