A history of Mother's Day

The Predecessor of Mother's Day
Some historians claim that the predecessor of the Mother's Day holiday was the ancient spring festival dedicated to mother goddesses. In Rome the most significant Mother's Day-like festival was dedicated to the worship of Cybele, another mother goddess. Ceremonies in her honor began some 250 years before Christ was born.

England's "Mothering Sunday"
Similar to our modern celebration of Mother's Day is England’s “Mothering Sunday”, also called Mid-Lent Sunday observed on the 4th Sunday in Lent. Some say the ceremonies in honor of Cybele were adopted by the early church to venerate the Mother of Christ, Mary. Others believe the Mother Church was substituted for mother goddess and custom began to dictate that a person visit the church of his/her baptism on this day. People attended the mother church of their parish, laden with offerings.

In the England of the 1600’s, young men and women who were apprentices or servants returned home on Mothering Sunday, bringing to their mothers small gifts of trinkets or a “mothering cake” for the meal. In England this was “furmety” (wheat grains boiled in sweet milk, sugared and spiced); in Scotland “carlings” were made (pancakes made of steeped pease fried in butter, with pepper and salt.); or a “simnel cake.” (a very rich fruit cake.)

Mother's Day in the United States
(and why Carnations were selected for this day.)

Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) is credited with originating our Mother's Day holiday. Two years after her mother's death in 1907, Anna Jarvis and her friends began a letter-writing campaign to gain the support of influential ministers, businessmen and congressmen in declaring a national Mother's Day holiday. She hoped that Mother's Day would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.

The first Mother’s Day observance was at a W Virginia church service honoring Ms. Jarvis’s mother on May 10, 1908. Carnations, her mother’s favorite flowers, were supplied at that first service. White carnations were chosen because they represented the sweetness, purity and endurance of mother love. In time, the color of the carnations used also included red, with the symbolism noted above.

The first Mother's Day proclamation was issued by the governor of West Virginia in 1910, and within one year, every state had its own observances and the custom began to expand internationally.

Congress passed a Joint Resolution May 8, 1914, making the 2nd Sunday in May – Mother’s Day. President Woodrow Wilson issued the first proclamation making Mother’s Day an official national holiday.