The Origin of Mother’s Day

There shouldn’t need to be a reason behind celebrating mother's day, appreciating your mother and showering her with gifts once a year. However, there is quite a history behind how there came to be a particular ‘Mother’s Day’ and as this day draws near, the time seems ripe to review that history… In the UK, Mother’s Day is traditionally referred to as Mothering Sunday, which is where the date, 14th of March comes from. Mothering Sunday has been celebrated for many centuries and is part of the Christian tradition. The date always falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Celebrating motherhood didn’t just begin with Christianity however; birth, fertility and the concept of maternity have been the source of many ancient festivals and rituals over the centuries. Both the Greeks and Romans revered ‘mother’ figures. In Greek tradition, an annual spring festival was held for Rhea, who was seen as the mother of all gods because it was she who reared the Olympians. The Romans also acknowledged their ‘mother goddess’ Cybele and provided her with sumptuous offerings every year, around mid-march. It is suspected that these traditions were incorporated into Christianity and tailored to suit its needs, which is why Mothering Sunday takes place at the same time of year as these ancient festivals did.

Instead of Cybele or Rhea, in the Christian tradition the Virgin Mary is the figure of worship and admiration. ‘Mother’ here also refers to the mother church, as it was traditional for everyone to gather in the largest local or ‘mother’ church on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

This tradition meant that whole families could meet together, which was usually a very rare occurrence. Leatare Sunday, Simnel Sunday, Rose Sunday and Refreshment Sunday are just a few examples of the other names attributed to this Christian holiday. There are also many traditions associated with the day which have now become outdated, such as ‘clipping the church’ where the church congregation formed a circle around their church and held hands. Domestic servants were also said to leave work and visit their families on Mothering Sunday.

So, unity, family and togetherness all stem from the Christian tradition and feed into what we see today as Mother’s Day. Whether your mum has been calling you every second of the day, is being mysteriously less attentive than usual or is introducing you to that fantastic man that they’ve been dating, you’ve simply got to try and spend this day with her. But where do the hearts, the cards and gifts originate from? America of course. Although in the US the day falls two months later, on the second Sunday of May, it is from here that we take the name ‘Mother’s Day’ and a fair few of its associations.

The US tradition started around 150 years ago with a woman called Anna Jarvis. Anna, in a philanthropic mood, organised an event to raise awareness about the poor health conditions surrounding her community and she called this event ‘Mother’s Work Day’. Anna often expressed the wish that there was a special day to commemorate all mothers and their strife and her wish was finally granted after her death when her daughter made a huge effort to publicise and campaign for a Mother’s Day. In 1914 all the hard work paid off and the day was finally acknowledged as an official national holiday.

So, this year, when you’re out on the London dating scene, having a chat with an old friend or making your Mother’s Day card, you can impress and astound everyone with your newfound knowledge of the origin of the holiday.