Even though everyone has heard of Mother’s Day, few know about its origins and history. The 26th March is a great opportunity to express your love for your beloved mum but when was it first celebrated? And who started this beautiful tradition that deepens the bond between a mother and her children?
Mother’s Day is steeped in tradition. Although, we may view it as “just another Holiday” it is one of those days that we should all stop and take notice of the special woman or women in our lives that have been there for us through thick and thin.
Ancient Greeks used to celebrate their annual spring festival to honour Rhea, wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology. Ancient Romans also celebrated a spring festival by the name of Hilaria in honour of Cybele, a mother goddess, some 250 years before Christ was born. However, the roots of Mother's Day history can also be traced in the UK, where a Mothering Sunday was celebrated much before the festival saw the light of the day in the US.
The celebration of the festival as it is seen today is a recent phenomenon and not even a hundred years old. Thanks to the hard work of the pioneering women of their times, Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis, that day came into existence. The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. St Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine.Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated across 46 countries but on various days most commonly in March or May. Millions of people across the globe take the day as an opportunity to honour their mothers, thank them for their efforts in giving them life, raising them and being their constant support and well-wisher.
Mother's Day is meant to honour mothers and their influence in society, maternal bonds and motherhood itself so let’s all wish every mother around the world a great Mother’s Day.
Aishah Qureshi, Walthamstow Academy
