Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a worldwide event celebrating mothers in various ways. International Mother's Day is a momentous occasion that falls on the second Sunday of May every year. As such, it does not have a fixed date. Instead, it is a day that reminds people of the importance and relevance of mothers in their lives, and it marks a day to honor all mothers around the world.

The ancient Greeks and Romans celebrated the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele with festivals. Still, the most straightforward modern predecessor for Mother's Day is the early Christian feast known as Mothering Sunday. Mothering Sunday evolved into a more secular celebration over time, with children giving flowers and other symbols of thanks to their moms. Anna Jarvis, Ann Reeves Jarvis's daughter, established the official Mother's Day holiday in the early 1900s.

Anna Jarvis created Mother's Day after her mother died in 1905. She wanted to commemorate the sacrifices mothers make for their children. Mother's Day is still one of the busiest days for flower and greeting card sales in the United States. Church attendance is also high on Mother's Day, with the largest attendance after Christmas Eve and Easter. Carnations, colored if the mother is alive and white if she is deceased, are used by many worshippers to commemorate the day.

Mother's Day is celebrated on March 10 this year in the United Kingdom, and the 4th Sunday of Lent was invented in the United States in the early twentieth century. This celebration is not descended from Christian Mothering Sunday or any of the many other religious and world celebrations of motherhood.

The tradition has been adopted by many countries worldwide, and many have given the day a different date to coincide with existing religious holidays honoring mothers, such as here in Britain, where it overlaps with Mothering Sunday.