The Story of Mother’s day
The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600’s, England celebrated a day called“Mothering Sunday”. Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of lent,“ Mothering Sunday”honored the mothers of England.
During this time many of the England’s poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employees. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the “Mother Church”— the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.
In the Unite States Mother’s Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother’s Day meetings in Boston every year.
In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the second Sunday of May. By the next year Mother’s Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.
Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother’s Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.
参考译文:
母亲节的来历
母亲节最早可追溯到古希腊，人们为了表示对众神之母瑞亚的敬重，每年春天都会举行重大的庆祝活动。在十七世纪，英国开始庆祝拜望双亲日。拜望双亲日定于复活节前四旬斋的第四个星期日，表达对英国母亲们的敬意。
此时，英国有许多穷人都在有钱人家里当奴仆。因为许多工作都离自家非常远，所以奴仆们都不得不寄宿在主人家里。在拜望双亲日这天，主人们会放他们假，并鼓励他们返回家园与母亲团聚。为了增加节日气氛，他们总是带一种特殊的蛋糕“母亲蛋糕”回家。
随着基督教在欧洲扩散，这个节日转为对主母教堂的庆祝，表达人们对赋予他们生命、保佑他们免于伤害的精力力量的感谢。从此，教会仪式便与拜望双亲日的庆祝活动相结合，于是，人们除了表达对母亲的敬意外，还表达对教会的尊重。
在美国，母亲节最早是由朱莉亚.瓦德.霍于1872年提出的，她建议将这一天献给“和平”，并每年在波斯顿等地举行母亲节的集会。
1907年，费城的安那.贾维斯发起为了建立全国性的母亲节的活动。她劝说位于弗吉尼亚洲西部的格拉夫顿教堂，也就是她妈妈经常去的教堂，在她母亲逝世两周年的日子，也就是五月的第二个星期日，庆祝母亲节。第二年，费城也开始了庆祝母亲节的活动。
贾维斯小姐和她的支持者们开始给教会牧师、商人、政界要员写信，要求建立全国性的母亲节。他们的努力非常成功，1911母亲节那一天几乎所有的州都在开展庆祝活动。1914年，美国总统伍德罗.威尔逊郑重声明，宣布母亲节为全国性节日，并于每年5月第二个星期天举行庆祝活动。
许多国家在一年中不同的时节庆祝属于他们自己的母亲节。然而，有些国家如丹麦、土耳其、澳大利亚和比利时，都是在五月的第二个星期日庆祝母亲节的。
