Mothers Day

By Pastor Ronald Boelte

Mother's Day can be traced back to a spring celebration of ancient Greece. They honored the mother of all their gods Rhea with celebrations of food and flowers. Like all pagan rites, as Christianity spread through Europe they changed this celebration to honor the "Mother Church" which gives us spiritual power along with life and protection from evil.

In the 1600s, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday" during Lent. During this time in history many of the poor women worked as servants for the wealthy and these jobs were often located far from their homes. On Mothering Sunday these women were given the day off and many would return home to spend time with their mothers. A special cake called a mothering cake was often brought along to help celebrate.
As time went on the church festival was blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. Most of the people throughout Europe would honor both their mothers as well as the church on this special Sunday in the spring.

In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in 1872 (she's the one who wrote Battle Hymn of the Republic) as a day of peace. She organized Mother's Day meetings every year in Boston.

In 1907 Ana Jarvis from Philadelphia began a push to establish a national Mother's Day on the Second Sunday in May. Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessmen and politicians to establish this as a national holiday. They were successful and by 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made an official announcement and proclaimed Mother's Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on the Second Sunday of each May.

Many of the other countries in the world also celebrate Mother's Day. Some on the second Sunday in May; others at other times during the year. What are you doing this year to remember your mother on this second Sunday in May?