The Story of Mother's Day

According to Christian legend, carnations sprang from Mary's tears while she was walking to Calvary. It is the official flower of Mother's Day.

Mother's day has evolved in many countries in different ways. This is because mother's day has different origins in different countries and hence occurs on different days in the year.

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday".

During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On 'Mothering Sunday' the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and 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 them 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. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year.

In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

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

I Said a Mother's Prayer for You

I said a Mother's Day prayer for you

to thank the Lord above
for blessing me with a lifetime
of your tenderhearted love.

I thanked God for the caring
you've shown me through the years,
for the closeness we've enjoyed
in time of laughter and of tears.

And so, I thank you from the heart
for all you've done for me
and I bless the Lord for giving me
the best mother there could be!