The concept of celebrating parenthood is not completely unique to any one culture or period of time. Maternity celebrations happened in ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece. These parties were held in honour of female goddesses and were of a spiritual nature. In Europe a party for mothers was held on the 4th Sunday of Lent. This vacation started as a technique to recognize Mary, the mummy of Christ, but later was broadened to include all mothers. Although many cultures across the ages have held parties to honour parenthood in general, this custom did not travel with the colonists to the new world.
Mother's Day in the united states has a separate and fascinating history. Julia Ward Howe, the writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, mourned for the carnage, destruction, death, and bitterness that existed in America following the Civil War. Her heart went out to all the mummies who had lost kids in this frightful war. She felt that mothers, more than any other people, felt the ache of lost youngsters, lost hope and a lost future. In 1870, she delivered an announcement which became known as the Mother's Day announcement. This announcement called upon mothers everywhere to use their influence to put and end to the tragedy and sourness by teaching charity, mercy and patience, and so bringing peace to the country. The text of this 1870 proclamation can be discovered at many online sites.
Julia tried to organize a day that was put aside for mothers to reach out to other mothers across the North and South bounds that had been established during the civil war. Her efforts had nominal success for one or two years, before fading away into American history. She won't have had success in creating an everlasting holiday, but her efforts did bring attention to the mum cause.
Another woman, Anna Reeves Jarvis, who lived in the Appalachians of West Virginia spent much of her time bringing relief to the downtrodden. After she mentioned that she wished there was a holiday set aside to honour mummy everywhere. After her expiration, her daughter, young Anna Jarvis, decided to make her ma's wish happen. In 1908, she worked to build a day to honour her mum. She began by asking the church where her mummy served for many years to hold a service particularly to honour mums. The church concluded, and the first Mother's Day meeting was held. Anna provided white carnations for every mummy attending. This convention of giving flowers to mothers during Mother's Day church services carried down through the years, and some denominations still honour that custom today.
Anna Jarvis commenced devoting much of her time to the concept of a vacation to celebrate mas. She petitioned state regimes and Sunday school boards. In 1912, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mother's Day officially. Two year later, Woodrow Wilson signed a petition declaring Mother's Day to be a countrywide vacation, and setting the second Sunday in May as the yearly observance.
Ironically, once Anna Jarvis found success at building a national vacation to honour mums, she spent the rest of her life trying to stop it. She was considerably saddened by the commercialism of the vacation. She saw the giving of flowers and gifts as a step in the wrong direction. In spite of her efforts to end the commercial hijacking of the vacation she provoked, the day grew wings of it's own and spread across American culture.
Today, Mother's Day is celebrated around the planet. It is a day when motherhood is celebrated in churches and homes around the globe. It is one of the busiest days for the floral, greeting card and restaurant industries. Anna Jarvis won't be pleased by the way Mother's Day is celebrated today, but Mothers everywhere are given the honour they merit.
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