Serenity Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day isn't a new holiday. 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. People would make offerings of honey-cakes, fine drinks, and flowers at dawn.

The Romans also had a mother of all gods, Magna Mater, or Great Mother. A temple was built in Rome for her. In March of each year, there was a celebration in her honor called the Festival of Hilaria. Gifts were brought to the temple to please the powerful mother-goddess.


During the 1600s, England celebrated "Mothering Sunday" on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40 days leading up to Easter) as a way to honor the mothers of England. Many of England's poor lived and worked as servants for the wealthy, far away from their homes and families. On Mothering Sunday, servants were given the day off to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the "mothering cake," was often baked to add to the festivities


In the United States, Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), a Boston writer, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, first suggested a Mothers' Day in 1872. She saw it as a day dedicated to peace. Although her version of Mothers' Day never really caught on, Howe went on to head the American branch of the Woman's International Peace Association, which observed a day dedicated to peace.


The official observance of Mother's Day in its present form is credited to Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) of Philadelphia, PA. She wanted to honor the memory of her mother, Mrs. Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis, who died in 1905. Before getting into the story, it's important to clear up two popular misconceptions. According to historical records provided by the curator at the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum near Grafton, WV, Anna Jarvis' mother was not, as is popularly believed, also named Anna. Her mother was simply Ann. Second, Anna Jarvis' name has no middle initial.


Mother's Day is the legacy of Anna Jarvis and her mother Ann Jarvis. At the heart of the traditions around Mother's Day are themes of honoring mothers, compassion, peace, reconciliation, and social action.


Today, Mother's Day is celebrated (officially and unofficially) in dozens of countries, although on different dates. In the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Belgium, and Japan it is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.




My List:


1.) My kids

2.) Hand made potted Mother's Day gifts from the kids


3.) Hugs


4.) Sunny weekends


5.) Chocolate


6.) Great friends


7.) Happy memories


8.) Knowledge I can teach to others


9.) Scented candles


10.) Waterfalls