It's almost mother's day here in the UAE, so we are going to dive into the origins of this day and how it all started.
Celebrating Mother's day can be traced back to the ancient Romans and Greeks, who used to host festivals for their mother goddesses Cybele and Rhea, but a more recent event that highlights mothers day is the festival commonly known as 'Mothering Sunday".
According to History.com,"Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home —for a special service.
Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation."
Mother's day officially started around 1900s in the USA from the persistence and vision of Anna Jarvis who wanted the day to be official - to honor the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
With the help and backing from a department store called John Wanamaker, Jarvis hosted the first official mother's day event which was attended by over 1000 people. With the overwhelming success of the day, Anna continued to push for mother's day to be added into the national calendar in the USA.
According to history.com."By 1912 many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause. Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day."
Mother's day has many versions and different dates around the world, but there is no denying the importance and the need to celebrate the woman that has brought us into this world.
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