Depending on where you’re at in the world Mother’s Day celebrations can take on many different forms and fashions. In the United States Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and it became an official US holiday in 1914. What many people do not realize is that Anna Jarvis spent the latter part of her life denouncing this famous day and trying to have it removed from the calendar because of the commercialization that followed its creation.
Mother’s Day Celebrations can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In those days festivals were held in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. Christians in those days held a celebration called “Mothering Sunday “and this celebration is the closest precedent to modern-day Mother’s Day celebrations. Mothering Sunday was a major tradition in the United Kingdom Imports of Europe. This celebration fell on the fourth Sunday of Lent and was seen as a time when family members who left home to go to work would return to their “Mother Church” for a special service. Over time mothering Sunday became more secular and children would simply present their mothers with flowers and other tokens to show their appreciation. The tradition of Mothering Sunday slowly began to fade and didn’t pick up steam until it merged with the American Mother’s Day in the late 1930s and the early 1940s. In today’s world, Mother’s Day is one of the most popular holidays every year. more phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year! Phone traffic on this marvelous day spikes by at least 37% every year!
In the years before the Civil War, Anna Jarvis of West Virginia helped start Mother’s Day work clubs to teach local women how to care for their children in their homes properly. These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized Mother’s Friendship Day. On this day mothers would gather with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation. The official Mother’s Day came to be in the 1900s as a result of Anna Jarvis daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following the death of her mother in 1905 Anna envisioned Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices that all mothers make for their children. She gained the backing of the department store owner named John Wanamaker and in 1908 she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. On that same day, thousands of people attended a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s department stores in Philadelphia. After the first successful Mother’s Day, Jarvis, who remained unmarried and childless until her death, made it her life’s mission to see the holiday added to the national calendar. Her persistence paid off and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
No matter how you plan to celebrate Mother’s Day, remember, the most precious gift that you can give to your mom is spending time with her! If you haven’t had time to prepare for your Mother’s Day celebration oh, when you’re done reading scroll to the top of the site, click on the amazing deals tab and type whatever you desire into the search. Make sure that you let us know how your shopping experience goes! From the good people at mshealthsource.com – Happy Mother’s Day to all!