Mother's Day

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Mother's Day
Observed by 40+ countries
Type Worldwide
Significance Honors mothers and motherhood
Date Varies per country
Frequency Annual
Related to Children's Day, Siblings Day, Father's Day, Parents' Day, Grandparents' Day

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as
motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different
days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It
complements similar celebrations, largely pushed by commercial interests, honoring family
members, such as Father's Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents' Day.

While some countries have a multi-century history of a day to celebrate mothers, the modern
American version of the holiday began in the United States in the early 20th century at the
initiative of Anna Jarvis, who organized the first Mother's Day service of worship and
celebration at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which serves as
the International Mother's Day Shrine today.[1] It is not directly related to the many traditional
celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have existed throughout the world over thousands
of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the mother deity Rhea, the Roman festival of Hilaria,
or the other Christian ecclesiastical Mothering Sunday celebration (associated with the image of
Mother Church).[2][3][4][5] However, in some countries, Mother's Day is still synonymous with
these older traditions.[6]

The American version of Mother's Day has been criticized for having become too
commercialized.[7][8] Jarvis herself, who began the celebration as a liturgical observance, regretted
this commercialism and expressed that this was never her intention.[1][9] In response, Constance
Adelaide Smith successfully advocated for Mothering Sunday as a commemoration of a broader
definition of motherhood in many other parts of the English-speaking world.[10]

Contents
 1 Establishment of holiday
 2 Spelling
 3 Dates around the world
 4 International history and tradition
o 4.1 Religion
o 4.2 By country (A–G)
o 4.3 By country (H–M)
o 4.4 By country (N–S)
o 4.5 By country (T–Z)
 5 See also
 6 Notes
o 6.1 Footnotes
o 6.2 Citations
 7 References
 8 External links

Establishment of holiday

Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the first Mother's Day service of worship in
1908; it serves as the International Mother's Day Shrine.
Main article: Mother's Day (United States) § History

The modern holiday was first celebrated in 1907, when Anna Jarvis held the first Mother's Day
service of worship at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.[1][11]
Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine.[1] Her campaign to
make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother,
Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on
both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother's Day Work Clubs to address public
health issues. She and another peace activist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe had been urging
for the creation of a "Mother's Day For Peace" where mothers would ask that their husbands and
sons were no longer killed in wars. 40 years before it became an official holiday, Ward Howe
had made her Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, which called upon mothers of all nationalities
to band together to promote the "amicable settlement of international questions, the great and
general interests of peace."[12] Anna Jarvis wanted to honor this and to set aside a day to honor all
mothers because she believed a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in
the world".[13]

In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday, joking
that they would also have to proclaim a "Mother-in-law's Day".[14] However, owing to the efforts
of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday,[15] with some of them officially
recognizing Mother's Day as a local holiday[16] (the first being West Virginia, Jarvis' home state,
in 1910). In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on
the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.[17]

Although Jarvis, who started Mother's Day as a liturgical service, was successful in founding the
celebration, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday. By the early 1920s,
Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother's Day cards. Jarvis believed that
the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mother's Day and that the emphasis
of the holiday was on sentiment, not profit. As a result, she organized boycotts of Mother's Day,
and threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved.[18] Jarvis argued that people
should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and
gratitude, instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards.[17] Jarvis protested at a candy makers'
convention in Philadelphia in 1923, and at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925. By this
time, carnations had become associated with Mother's Day, and the selling of carnations by the
American War Mothers to raise money angered Jarvis, who was arrested for disturbing the
peace.[17][18]

In Britain, Constance Adelaide Smith was inspired to advocate for Mothering Sunday, an
already-existing Christian ecclesiastical celebration in which the faithful visit the church in
which they received the sacrament of baptism, as an equivalent celebration.[19][20][21][22] She
referred to medieval traditions of celebrating Mother Church, 'mothers of earthly homes', Mary,
mother of Jesus, and Mother Nature.[21][10] Her efforts were successful in the British Isles and
other parts of the English-speaking world.[23]

Spelling
In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrase "Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day, Anna
Jarvis, Founder", and created the Mother's Day International Association.[24] She specifically
noted that "Mother's" should "be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its own mother,
not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."[25] This is also the spelling
used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his 1914 presidential proclamation, by the U.S.
Congress in relevant bills,[26][27] and by various U.S. presidents in their proclamations concerning
Mother's Day.[28]
Dates around the world
While the United States holiday was adopted by some other countries, existing celebrations, held
on different dates, honoring motherhood have become described as "Mother's Day", such as
Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom[6] or, in Greece, the Eastern Orthodox celebration of
the presentation of Jesus Christ to the temple (2 February of Julian Calendar). Both the secular
and religious Mother Day are present in Greece.[29] Mothering Sunday is often referred to as
"Mother's Day" even though it is an unrelated celebration.[6]

In some countries, the date adopted is one significant to the majority religion, such as Virgin
Mary Day in Catholic countries. Other countries selected a date with historical significance. For
example, Bolivia's Mother's Day is a fixed date, commemorating a battle in which women
participated to defend their children.[30]

Some countries, such as Russia, celebrated International Women's Day instead of Mother's
Day[31] or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom in Ukraine. Kyrgyzstan has
recently introduced Mother's Day, but "year on year International Women's Day is certainly
increasing in status".[32]