Mother’s Day – the history behind the day!

In Australia, the official flower for Mother’s Day is the chrysanthamum and it seems that this is purely because the name is shortened to “Mum”

According to Encylopeadia Britannica: “During the Middle Ages the custom developed of allowing those who had moved away to visit their home parishes and their mothers on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. This became Mothering Sunday in Britain, where it icontinued into modern times, although it has largely been replaced by Mother’s Day.  Festivals honouring mothers and mother goddesses date to ancient times. The Phrygians held a festival for Cybele, the Great Mother of the Gods, as did the Greeks for the goddess Rhea. Likewise, the Romans adapted the practice to their own pantheon. Some countries have continued to observe ancient festivals; for example, Durga-Puja, honouring the goddess Durga, remains an important festival in India.”

In this modern day, most countries in the world celebrate Mother’s Day in some form or another, some retain a base in religion and some celebrate on different days but it is most commonly celebrated in March and May with the 2nd Sunday in May by far the most popular with over 65 countries choosing to celebrate on that day. This can be explained in part by Mother’s Day becoming a regular celebration in the USA in 1914 following an intensive campaign by Anna Marie Jarvis when President Woodrow Wilson officially declared the second Sunday in May to be Mother’s Day. Anna’s mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis had nursed wounded soldiers in the Civil War and created mother’s day work clubs to address public health issues and Anna honoured her mother’s work by holding a church memorial in 1908.  She then took up the campaign to have an official day set aside to honour all mothers. Prior to that, in 1870, American writer and women’s rights activist Julia Ward Howe had appealed to women to unite and bring peace throughout the world (later known as the Mother’s Day Proclomation) and proposed that a mother’s day for peace be commemorated every year in June, however, it didn’t gain traction unil Anna Marie Javis took up the cause.

1924 saw the first Mother’s Day held in Australia following the impacts of World War 1 which saw many lonely, forgotten and aged mothers who had lost children and husbands to the war and were left totally alone. Janet Heyden from Sydney successfully campaigned for local schools and businesses to donate gifts to the ladies at Newington State Hospital where she regularly visited a friend. It was during the early 1920s in the USA that companies like Hallmark and florists began marketing cards and gifts and as it became more popular, the idea (and the commercialisation) soon spread to Australia.

Some of the religion based celebrations according to Wikipedia are: “In certain traditional branches of Christianity, the holiday is strongly associated with revering the Virgin Mary. In some Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican homes, families have a special shrine on their home altar devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In many Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a special prayer service is held in honor of the Theotokos Virgin Mary. 

In Islam there is no concept of Mother’s Day, but the Quran teaches that children should give priority to loving their mother over their father.

In Hindu tradition, Mother’s Day is called “Mata Tirtha Aunshi” or “Mother Pilgrimage fortnight”, and is celebrated in countries with a Hindu population, especially in Nepal, where mothers are honored with special foods. The holiday is observed on the new moon day in the month of Baisakh, i.e., April/May. This celebration is based on the Hindu religion and it pre-dates the creation of the US-inspired celebration by at least a few centuries.

In Buddhism, the festival of Ullamban derived from the story of Maudgalyayana and his mother.”

For most families, Mother’s Day is seen as a day to get together and a day for all women.  Richard Waterhouse, emeritus professor of Australian history at Sydney University writes, “It’s no longer linked to a particular set of values and a particular view of the role of women” the professor said. “It has a kind of universal appeal and a cross-cultural appeal so that it can appeal to all ethnic groups in Australia.”

It was interesting to note that in response to the commercialisation of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis was outraged and spent the rest of her life campaigning against it. She died penniless and in a state of dementia in a sanatorium in the USA in 1948.

The significance of giving carnations as Mother’s Day Flowers seems to have stemmed from Anna Jarvis as well. She is said to have sent 500 white carnation to the Memorial for her mother. Although the giving of carnations is also popular, Australia has adopted the Chrysanthemum as our national Mother’s Day flower and it seems to be mainly due to the abbreviation of the name to ‘Mums’ (another marketing ploy no doubt!).

A note on Father’s Day written by Professor Waterhouse
“It was basically made up to balance Mother’s Day,” Professor Waterhouse said.
“Mother’s Day was designed to give women greater moral authority and recognition; men’s authority at that stage was unchallenged.
“Father’s Day was really a kind of a counter to Mother’s Day and to some extent a commercial decision.”

This story was written by Kathy Punter for Mother’s Day 2023

Refs: 1. ABC Radio Canberra, 13 May 2017. You will find the full story here   2. Wikipedia 3. Encylopeadia Britannica