historyEarliest History of Mothers Day

History of Mother's Day: Mothering

Sunday

History of Mother's Day: Anna Jarvis

History of Mother's Day: Present Day Celebrations

The earliest history of Mothers Day dates back to the ancient annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to maternal goddesses. The Greeks used the occasion to honor Rhea, wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology.

Ancient Romans, too, celebrated a spring festival, called Hilaria dedicated to Cybele, a mother goddess. It may be noted that ceremonies in honour of Cybele began some 250 years before Christ was born. The celebr

ation made on the Ides of March by making offerings in the temple of Cybele lasted for three days and included parades, games and masquerades. The cel

ebrations were notorious （臭名昭著的） enough that followers of Cybele were banished from Rome.

Early Christians

celebrated a Mother's Day

of sorts during the

festival on the fourth

Sunday of Lent in honor of

the Virgin Mary, the

Mother of Christ. In

England the holiday was

expanded to include all

mothers. It was then

called Mothering Sunday.

The more recent history of Mothers Day dates back to 1600s in England. Here a Mothering Sunday was celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) to honor mothers. After a prayer service in church to honor Virgin Mary, children brought gifts and flowers to pay tribute to their own mothers.

On the occasion, servants, appr

entices and other employees stayi

ng away from their homes were e

ncouraged by their employers to v

isit their mothers and honor them.

Traditionally children brought wit

h them gifts and a special fruit cak

e or fruit-filled pastry called a sim

nel. Yugoslavs and people in other

nations have observed similar day

s. Custom of celebrating Mothering

Sunday died out almost complete

ly by the 19th century.

Anna Jarvis is recognised as the Foun

der of Mothers Day in US. Though An

na Jarvis never married and never ha

d kids, she is also known as the Moth

er of Mothers Day, an apt title for the

lady who worked hard to bestow hon

or on all mothers.

Anna Jarvis gotinspiration of celebr

ating Mothers Day from her own mot

her Mrs Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis in

her childhood. An activist and social

worker, Mrs Jarvis used to express h

er desire that someday someone mus

t honor all mothers, living and dead,

and pay tribute to the contributions

made by them.

A loving daughter, Anna never forgot her mothers word and when her mother died in 1905, she resolved to fulfill her mothers desire of having a mothers day. Growing negligent attitude of adult Americans towards their mothers and a desire to honor her mothers soared her ambitions. To begin with Anna, send Carnations in the church service in Grafton, West Virginia to honor her mother. Carnations were her mothers favoriteflower and Anna felt that they symbolised a mothers pure love. Later Anna along with her supporters wrote letters to people in positions of power lobbying for the official declaration Mothers Day holiday. The hard work paid off. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union and on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Today Mothers Day is celebrated in several countries including US, UK, India,

Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Belgium. People take the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for all their love and support. The day has become hugely

popular and in several countries phone lines witness maximum traffic. There is also a tradition of gifting flowers, cards and others gift to mothers on the Mothers

Day.

The festival has become com

mercialised to a great extent. Flo

rists, card manufacturers and gif

t sellers see huge business pote

ntial in the day and make good m

oney through a rigorous advertis

ing campaign.

It is unfortunate to note that

Ms Anna Jarvis, who devoted her

life for the declaration of Mother

s Day holiday was deeply hurt to

note the huge commercialisation

of the day.

Mothers are everything for us when we are small...our lives revolve around her. For everything that we need we call mother. To protect us from all perceivable dangers we want her around us. To take us out we hold her arms. To kiss away our wounds we run to her. And for a warm hug and love we look for her. She is the focal point of our lives, the greatest human being in the world or should we say divinity on earth. On the special occasion of Mothers Day pay tribute to your mother - the greatest blessing of God on you.

Do you celebrate Mother’day?

History

JapanThailand

China

The history of Children’s Day

In November 1949, the Women’s International Democratic （民主的） Federation council （理事会） meeting was held in Moscow. Representatives from China and other countries exposed the deviltry （恶行） of the imperialist （帝国主义者） and reactionaries （反动派） ,who kill and poison children. In order to protect the children’s rights,such as health , being educated and to improve children’s life conditions. The meeting set the annual June 1 as International Children's Day.

1949 年 11 月，国际民主妇女联合会在莫斯科举行理事会议，中国和各国代表愤怒地揭露了帝国主义分子和各国反动派残杀、毒害儿童的罪行。为了保障世界各国儿童的生存权、保健权和受教育权，为了改善儿童的生活，会议决定以每年的 6月 1日为国际儿童节 .

Japan

In Japan, Children’s Day is a national holiday celebrated on May 5. Originally commonly known as Boys‘ Day, whereas Girls’ Day was celebrated separately on March 3. The holidays were merged( 合并 ) in 1948.

Doll's DayThis festival is for wishing girls growth and happiness.

ThailandThere is a Thai saying that goes, “Children are the future of the nation, if the children are intelligent, the country will be prosperous( 繁荣的 )."

Thailand National Children’s Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in January. Many organization from both government and commercial sector （商业部门） have celebration activity for children. Children can enter special areas.

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ChinaIn the People's Republic of China, Children's Day is celebrated on June 1 and is formally known as "International Children's Day" .When the People's Republic of China was first established in 1949, the State Council designated a half-day holiday for all primary schools children on June 1. This was later made into a full day's break in 1956 with the announcement by the State Council to make June 1 Children's Day a One-Day Holiday. Schools usually hold activities such as camping trips or free movies on Children's Day to allow students to have fun, and children of civil servants might also receive small gifts from the government.

However, on June 1, 2008 the day was made even more memorable, as many people remembered the children who died in the earthquake just a few weeks before.

But what delighted us was that the survived children could still enjoy the holiday .

We all wish they can enjoy their Children’s Day every year!

Thank you!!~