Even though the celebration of Mother’s Day did not occur officially until 1914, there were many instances of this day being remembered throughout history.  It has been said that many ancient cultures including the ancient Greeks celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods.  The ancient Romans were have said to celebrate the goddess Cybele during the springtime of the year.

17th Century

In Great Britain during the 17th Century,  a religious celebration  called Mothering Sunday, took place on the 4th Sunday during Lent.  The holiday actually involved the reunion of mothers with their children who had been separated when working class parents sent their children off to be house servants.  On Mothering Sunday, the children were allowed to return home for a day to visit their parents.  By the 19th century, this day went on as any other day until World War II servicemen introduced the concept once again.
In 1872, Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace to be held on June 2.  Julia Ward Howe was the author of the “Battle Hymn Of The Republic” and financed the celebrations which continued for a decade until she stopped underwriting the cost of the celebrations.

Sometime around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Ana Jarvis from West Virginia began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day.  Ana Jarvis managed to persuade her church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother’s Day.

In 1905, Ana Jarvis passed away and her daughter began to work toward fulfilling Ana’s life long dreams of a national day to honor mothers.  In 1907, a campaign was launched to hand out white carnations to members of her church in Grafton, WV.   In 1908, she was able to get her church to hold a special service honoring mothers.  The following year, the tradition began to spread to many other churches  and in 1909, she dedicated her life to a full time letter writing campaign begging politicians, church ministers and community leaders to institute a national day of honor for mothers.

US Established Mothers Day

In 1912, West Virginia began an official Mother’s Day and two years later, the US congress passed legislation establishing Mother’s Day which was signed in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson.

Mothers Day was to be held on the second Sunday of May.  Mother’s Day has become one of the most popular days around the world with many countries celebrating the day at different times of the year.

While I realize some individuals have not had wonderful mothers and in my own life there were issues, but my Mom was and still is very important to me.  She was the one that understood me like no one else could when I was growing up.

Now that she is no longer on this earth, I do miss her greatly.  Whatever the case may be for you, I am extremely glad there is a day to celebrate and honor our moms for all they do for us.

As you can read below, there are yearly proclamation on Mother’s Day that each President issues.  I have gathered these back to 1989 and they are interesting to read.

Presidential Proclamations

• President Obama 2009 to 2016
• President George W. Bush 2001 to 2008
• President William (Bill) Clinton 1993 to 2000
• President George H. Bush 1989 to 1992

Relaxing Spa Music: Mothers Day

Buy On