The History of Mother’s Day母亲节的由来

三毛曾写过一篇《守望的天使》。文章中说，每个人生命中最真最诚的天使是自己的父母，天使终其一生舍尽全力来为自己的孩子挡风遮雨。在犹太人的谚语里，也有一句类似的表述，而且更为精辟：“God could not be everywhere and therefore be made mothers.”在母亲节来临之际，首先让我们了解母亲节的来历，并用心为妈妈们奉上最为朴实的祝福：母亲节快乐！

The history of Mother’s Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks， who held festivities to honor Rhea， the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother’s festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary， the mother of Christ. Interestingly， later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers， and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872， Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother’s Day.

In 1907， Anna M. Jarvis （1864-1948）， a Philadelphia schoolteacher， began a movement to set up a national Mother’s Day in honor of her mother. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honoring Anna’s mother. Anna handed out her mother’s favorite flowers， the white incarnations， on the occasion as they represent sweetness， purity， and patience. Anna’s hard work finally paid off in the year 1914， when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually the Mother’s day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother’s day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day’s sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Regardless of Jarvis’s worries， Mother’s Day has flourished in the United States. Actually， the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us but the Mother’s day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother’s Day at various times during the year， but some such as Denmark， Finland， Italy， Turkey， Australia， and Belgium also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.