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Mother’s Day has its roots in ancient spring festivals that honored the Greek Goddess Rhea, believed to be the mother of all the Gods. Sometime during the 16^th century, in England, the fourth Sunday of Lent was proclaimed and named Mothering Sunday, with the purpose of honoring all mothers throughout England.

During the 16^th century, in England the poor were notably employed in service to the aristocracy. The servants lived in the manors and castles of their wealthy masters with little time off for visiting anyone. On Mothering Sunday, all servants were encouraged to take the day and visit their mothers. It was also common to bring a cake, known as the “mothering cake”, when visiting on this date. The cake was sweet and was to represent a happy life. In many cases, this is the only time during the year that the servant would be granted time to see their mother.

From honoring the Greek Goddess Rhea through to becoming Mothering Sunday, the day evolved again as Europe adopted the Christian religion. Mothering Sunday became a day for honoring Mother Church the spiritual strength that protected all Christians from harm and gave them life.

In 1872 in Boston, Massachusetts, Julia Ward Howe suggested a day to promote peace and family wellbeing. The day was called Mother’s Day and Ms. Howe held seminars promoting the concept every year until at least the early 1900s. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ann Jarvis, in 1907, started to promote the concept of a federally recognized national Mother’s Day. It started slowly with Ms. Jarvis’s West Virginia church being the first to acknowledge a Mother’s Day, on the 2^nd Sunday of May, the anniversary of the death of Ms. Jarvis’s mother. The following year the city of Philadelphia gave the day credibility by acknowledging it.

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