AngDesign

Mothers Day

Mother's Day - a chance to express feelings of love and appreciation, celebrated throughout the world, but how did it all start? No-one knows for sure, but what is known is that people in many ancient cultures celebrated holidays honouring motherhood, personified as a goddess. The very first celebrations in honour of mothers were held in Ancient Greece during the spring. They paid tribute to Rhea, The Mother of the Gods. Rhea was the Titan of "Earth and Fertility", both sister and wife to the Titan Cronus (Saturn). In Rome the most significant Mother's Day-like festival was dedicated to the worship of Cybele, another mother goddess. Ceremonies in her honour began some 250 years before Christ was born. This Roman religious celebration, known as Hilaria, lasted for three days - from March 15 to 18. Mother's Day - With Love Lilac pearlised card, with band of gold mesh down left hand side with 2 pink flowers threaded through. 'To Mum With Love On Mother's Day' at top centre in gold writing. A rectangle of peach pearlised card with pink foam heart, 3 pink flowers and a pi Price:  Design enquiry In the UK, the terms 'Mother's Day' and 'Mothering Sunday' have become interchangeable, however 'Mothering Sunday' had a very specific meaning. During the 1600s, most Sundays in the year churchgoers would worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church". In those times it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church at least once a year. So each year the fourth Sunday of Lent was 'Mothering Sunday', a day on which everyone would visit their "mother" church. This day also became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away from home returned, as it was common in those times for children to leave home to work in service from ten years of age. This became known as "going a-mothering." Children walked the roads picking spring wildflowers to give to their mothers when they arrived back at their homes. They often brought small gifts from  the merchants or nobles they worked for as presents for the family, including the traditional simnel cake. The Sunday of their return the whole family would go to church and present gifts to the mothers and offerings to the church. This was a day of feasting when all of the restrictions of Lent were put aside for the day...in a way it was the Easter celebration for the working classes. This feast day became known as Mothering Sunday. After Mothering Sunday, the children would return to their labours and would not visit home again until Christmas time. The tradition of gifts and flowers has endured to become what we know as Mother's Day. Mother's Day - Special Mum Supplied in a protective box. Size A5 Price:  Design enquiry In United States, Mother’s day was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe, writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She suggested that this day be dedicated to peace. Miss Howe organized Mother’s Day meetings in Boston every year. In 1907, Miss Anna Jarvis began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day. She persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, W.Va., to celebrate Mother’s day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the second Sunday of May. Carnations, her mother's favorite flowers, were supplied at that first service by Miss Jarvis. White carnations were chosen because they represented the sweetness, purity and endurance of mother love. Red carnations, in time, became the symbol of a living mother. White ones now signify that  one's mother has died. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia and by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state.  In recent times Mothering Sunday has in Britain taken on the name and character of the US Mothers' Day. The original religious meaning of Mothering Sunday in England has been largely lost. Nowadays, flowers and Mother's Day cards have become an almost universal way to send Mother's Day wishes.