On the second Sunday in May, mothers receive more attention than at any other time of the year. Grateful daughters and sons express their love and appreciation through special favors, card, gifts, and flowers. In the United States this custom is relatively a recent development, only in existence since 1908. The tradition of honoring mothers, however, is a revival of a practice that dates back to the Greek empire. The ancient Greeks dedicated their annual spring festival to Rhea, the wife of Cronus and mother of the gods and goddesses. On the Ides of March, the Romans observed this event, the Hilaria, by making offerings in the temple of Cybele, the great mother of the gods. Early Christians celebrated the festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ. They adorned the churches with flowers, jewels, rich metals, and expensive gifts.

In England, an ecclesiastical order decreed this day as Mothering Sunday, expanding the holiday to include all mothers. Besides attending church services in honor of the Virgin Mary, children went "a-mothering," returning home from the cities with gifts, flowers, and special cakes. However, the custom of dedicating a particular day to mothers did not transfer across the ocean to the United States. No official Mother's Day existed until the twentieth century, when Anna M. Jarvis, a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began organizing a national movement for the establishment of such a day.

Anna's mother, Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis, had originally conceived the idea of an annual, nationwide holiday honoring mothers. She believed that a day in honor of mothers could help reunite families torn apart by the bitter hatred of the Civil War. Mrs. Jarvis died on 9 May 1905, before she was able to realize her dream; however, her daughter did not abandon the idea.

Two years after her mother passed away, Anna began formulating a campaign for the national observance of a day devoted to mothers. Unmarried and alone with her blind sister Elsinore, Anna felt the loss of her mother deeply. Convinced that she, and all children, neglected to appreciate their mothers while they lived, Anna believed that a Mother's Day would increase respect for parents and strengthen home ties. Enlisting advice and financial assistance from John Wanamaker, she wrote countless letters to people from all walks of life, including congressmen.

At Anna's request, on Sunday, 10 May 1908, the minister of the church in which Mrs. Jarvis had taught, Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, arranged a special service honoring Mrs. Jarvis. Anna donated 500 white carnations, her mother's favorite flower, to be worn by everyone in attendance. On this first official Mother's Day, the pastor used the biblical text, "Woman, behold thy son; Son, behold thy mother" (John 19:26).

At first, Americans observed Mother's Day by attending the churches of their baptisms and by visiting or writing letters to their mothers. Gradually, other ways of expressing affection were added, such as giving presents and candy, mailing cards, and sending flowers. In 1934, the postal department issued a three-cent stamp of the painting of Whistler's mother as a special tribute to all mothers past and present. Today, Mother's Day offers us the opportunity to repay at least a portion of our mother's self-sacrificing, patient, loving care, and to preserve and further develop that special, enduring relationship between mother and child.

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