The World and Everyone in It: Celebrating Mothers

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” –Rajneesh

“A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.” –Irish Proverb

“God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.” –Jewish Proverb

“How beautifully everything is arranged by Nature; as soon as a child enters the world, it finds a mother ready to take care of it.” –Jules Michelet

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[dropcaps]F[/dropcaps]irst celebrated in 1908 three years after one mother’s passing, Mother’s Day is a modern American holiday whose origin dates back over 100 years to a memorial ceremony held at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia.

The ceremony’s popularity and annual recurrence thereafter began when a woman named Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother and all mothers on the third anniversary of her mother’s passing. She used white carnations at the event, saying “[their] whiteness is to symbolize the truth, purity, and broad-charity of mother love; [their] fragrance, her memory, and her prayers. The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying.”

The admiration and appreciation of one’s mother expands far and worldwide, so naturally the day called Mother’s Day is one in which many people outside of America partake as well. Here are a few stats:

In the Roman Catholic Church, Mother’s Day is a time for believers to offer reverence to the Virgin Mary. In fact, in many Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches, people partake in a formal prayer service as tribute to the Theotokos Virgin Mary.

Mother’s Day within Hindu tradition is called “Mata Tirtha Aunshi,” which means “Mother Pilgrimage fortnight.” On this new moon day in the Hindu month equivalent to April and May called Baisakh, Hindu-populated countries, especially Nepal, pay respects and honors to their mothers.

In most Arab countries, the chosen day of celebration is March 21, which is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. The idea was conceived and pushed into reality by a journalist named Mustafa Amin after he heard a story of a widowed mother who gave her entire life to her son’s upbringing until he became a doctor. Once he did, the son married and left his mother without expressing any thankfulness. Amin pushed for the holiday’s official founding after this.

Not until the third Sunday of October do regions of Argentina celebrate the popular holiday. It was originally commemorated on October 11, which is the former liturgical date for celebrating the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

April 7 is Maternity and Beauty Day in Armenia, and is the date chosen for Mother’s Day in that region.

In May 1924 in Sydney, Australia, a woman by the name of Janet Heyden visited a patient at the Newington State Home for Women and ended up meeting many solitary and seemingly forgotten mothers. To remedy this grievance, she rallied local schoolchildren and businesses to donate and give gifts to the residents of the home. Each year thereafter, it became tradition to give chrysanthemums to mothers on this special occasion for two reasons: 1) the flowers are in full bloom in May, and 2) the name ends in “-mum,” which sounds like the common term of endearment used to address one’s mother in Australia.

 

Read more about international Mother’s Day origins and traditions @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother’s_Day.