Origin of Mother’s Day Celebration 2016/05/05

Cook, driver, cleaning lady, nurse, teacher, washerwoman, pediatrician, monsters under the bed hunter, healer with kisses… 24 hours a day worker, no vacations or salary… in a few words… a MOM…

Each year, on the second Sunday of May, we celebrate this important family figure, but where does this anniversary come from?

Mother’s Day origin could be related to ancient populations, who celebrate the female deities during the spring to hope for a fertile soil which would produce abundantly.

In Italy the first Mother’s Day and the Child was celebrated on December 24th 1933, during fascism and the family policy framework of the regime, rewarding large families.

In 1956, for commercial reasons, the mayor of Bordighera (Imperia, Liguria) and the president of the Ornamental Flowers and Plants show, decided to celebrate the mother figure.

The following year, a Parrish priest from Asis decided to honor the maternal figure in a religious context; remember that May is also the month of the Virgin Mary, mother of all Christians.

In America, in 1870, the pacifist Julia Ward Howe proposed the “Mother’s Day For Peace” to make people reflect against war, but the initiative was not successful.

In 1914, president Wilson established Mother’s Day, celebrating it on the second Sunday of May, as a public expression of love and gratitude towards mothers.

From February to December, from Norway to Thailand, going through Russia and North Africa, mothers are celebrated all around the world, preferably the second Sunday of May.

Therefore, this Sunday, being that your mom is close or far away, dedicate a thought to her, a gift… bit that truly comes from the heart.