Mother's Day

Each year Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday in May.

We love to celebrate Mother's Day and thank our moms for all the care they have given us through the years. Sure we pamper our moms and give them extra thanks for all they do for us, but where did this holiday come from? There must be some reasoning behind it, right?

The actual history of Mother's Day happens to be centuries old. It goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honor the mother of the gods. Early Christians celebrated the Mother's Festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent in order to honor Mary, the mother of Christ.

Over time a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers and it was called the Mothering Sunday. Later on, English colonists who settled in America ended up discontinuing the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of the lack of time.

Anna M. Jarvis, a Philadelphia schoolteacher, in 1907 began a movement in order to set up a national Mother's Day holiday in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She got the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor moms everywhere.

The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. The flowers represent sweetness, patience, and purity which were all characteristics Anna saw in her mom. In 1914 Anna's dream finally came true when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May to be a national holiday to honor all mothers.

The Mother's day holiday became more and more popular as time progressed and with it, gift giving activities increased. When commercialization of Mother's Day started, Anna became angry because the holiday was now being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Despite her concerns of the commercialization of Mother's Day, the holiday flourished in the United States and is also celebrated in other countries some one the same day.

Click Here for some unique Mother's Day gift ideas for mom!