Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Mother worship — which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of gods, and (mythology), the wife of Cronus; was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (March 15 to March 18). The Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.
In the United States, Mother's Day was copied from England by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War with a call to unite women against war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation. In the UK, the day now simply celebrates motherhood and thanking mothers. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.
In the United States, Mother's Day was copied from England by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War with a call to unite women against war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation. In the UK, the day now simply celebrates motherhood and thanking mothers. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.
Mothers Day In UK
In most countries, Mother's Day is a new concept copied from western civilization. In many African countries, the idea of one Mother's Day has its origins in copying the British or Mothers Day UK, concept, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that have been there centuries before the colonials arrival. In most of East Asia, Mother's Day is a heavily marketed and commercialized concept copied straight from Mother's Day in the USA.
Julia Ward Howe wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. In parts of the United States it is customary to plant tomatoes outdoors after mother's day (and not before.)
When Jarvis died, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Grafton is the home to the International Mother's Day Shrine. From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war (with specific reference to The Great War, now known as World War I). Nine years after the first official Mother's Day holiday, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. holidays.
Mothers day UK is Sunday in Britain
Main article: Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday, commonly called "Mothers' Day" in the United Kingdom, has no direct connection to the American practice. It falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday). It is believed to have originated from the 16th century Christian practice of visiting one's mother church annually, which meant that most mothers would be reunited with their children on this day. Most historians believe that young apprentices and young women in servitude were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families.[1] As a result of secularisation, it is now principally used to celebrate and give thanks for mothers, although it is still recognized in the historical sense by some churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus as well as the traditional concept 'mother church'.
Mother's Days in various parts of the world
The definition used in this table allows "Womens day" to be treated the same as "Mothers Day".
Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mothers day" shows two major blips, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.[2]
Day Country
Second Sunday in February Norway
Shevat 30 (falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1) Israel
March 3 Georgia
March 8 Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Laos, Montenegro, Macedonia, Mongolia*, Romania*, Russia*, Serbia, Ukraine. In Mongolia, Romania, Russia it is observed as International Womens Day, not specifically Mothers day.
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday - March 18 in 2007) Ireland, United Kingdom, Nigeria
March 21 (first day of spring) Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
March 25 Slovenia
April 7 Armenia
Baisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi) Nepal
First Sunday in May Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain
May 8 South Korea, Albania (Parents' Day).
May 10 Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Oman
Second Sunday in May
see: Mother's Day (United States) Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Bulgaria, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, St. Lucia, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe
May 26 Poland
May 27 Bolivia
last Sunday in May France (except if it coincides with Pentecost day, in which case Mother's Day will be shifted to the first Sunday of June), Dominican Republic, Haiti, Sweden, Morocco, Mauritius, Algeria.
May 30 Nicaragua
June 1 Mongolia (The Mothers and Childrens Day. Mongolia is the only country that celebrates Mother's day twice a year.)
August 12 Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara)
August 15 (Assumption Day) Antwerp (Belgium), Costa Rica
third Sunday in October Argentina (Día de la Madre)
Second Monday in October Malawi
Last Sunday of November Russia
December 8 Panama
December 22 Indonesia
20th Jumada al-thani (also called Women's Day) Iran and other Muslim sects, especially Shias. The date is the (disputed) birthday of Fatima Zahra. The Islamic calendar is lunar so it cycles relative to the Western calendar. However Iranians are using their own Iranian calendar which is a solar calendar and they used to celebrate mother's day on birthday of their queen.
Happy Mothers day uk celebrations!
Posts
