MOTHERS DAY Mothers Day, or Mothering Sunday, as it is called in Britain, is celebrated on a different date in Britain and America.

Mothering Sunday in Britain is always the fourth Sunday in Lent. It is also called MidLent Sunday and has been celebrated for more than three hundred years. It dates back to the 17th century when the fourth Sunday in Lent was the one day in the middle of the period of fasting when games and feasting were allowed. Apprentices and servants working away from home were given the day off to visit their families. On their way home they would pick flowers, especially primroses and violets, to give to their mothers. This custom became known as going a-mothering. A simnel cake, a rich fruit cake, was another traditional gift given to mothers. Nowadays, flowers and chocolates are typical presents and Mothers Day cards are sent to mothers and grandmothers. What started as a religious celebration has changed now to a rather commercialized event. In America, Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. On this day Americans put up the flag to draw special attention to all the mothers and grandmothers of their country. People give cards and presents and often bouquets of carnations. Mothers Day has been celebrated in America since 1914. in May 1907, a woman called Miss Anna M. Jarvis, persuaded her church in Grafton, West Virginia, to hold a church service in honour of her mother who had died two years before. Anna M. Jarvis gave money for the church and she bought five hundred carnations her mothers favourite flower to give out to all the mothers in the church. Annas mother, Mrs Reeves Jarvis, had been the mother of eleven children, but seven of them died when they were still young. Mrs Reeves Jarvis had been a mother to the communities in which she had lived. She had been a Sunday school teacher and she had organized a Mothers Friendship Day to help people from both sides of the American Civil War to become friends. The people of Grafton were very proud of her. In 1908, the anniversary of Mrs Reeves Jarvis death was officially celebrated as Mothers Day by the church in Grafton. Everyone wore a carnation during the service. In that year, Anna Jarvis started a campaign to have a special day declared in honour of all mothers. She wrote letters to congressmen and other important people. In 1910, the first state Mothers Day was celebrated in West Virginia. Soon, several states followed. People were asked to go to church on that day, and carnations continued to be associated with that day. On May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the first Mothers Day Proclamation. Mothers Day became part of American law, and the second Sunday in May was set aside for this special occasaion.

Statement

True for Mothering Sunday in Britain

True for Mothers Day in the USA

It is a day when love and respect is shown for mothers and grandmothers. It dates back to the 17th century. It was first celebrated in May 1908. It is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Carnations are traditionally associated with this day. Simnel cakes used to be a traditional gift for mothers on this day. Anna M. Jarvis started a campaign to have a special day declared in honour of all mothers. It used to be the only day in Lent when games could be played. People working away from home were given the day off to visit their families. West Virginia was the first state to adopt an official Mothers Day.