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Mother’s Day
The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honour of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods and wife of Cronus.
The tradition of Mothers' Day in Finland has its origins in the United States where the idea was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe. In 1907, Ann Jarvis (1864-1948) organised a memorial ceremony in honour of her mother, who had died two years earlier. Together with her supporters Ms Jarvis then began to write to ministers, businessmen and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mothers' Day. It was such a success that by 1911 Mothers' Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mothers' Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May. Countries across the world celebrate Mothers' Day at different times throughout the year but - in common with the United States, Denmark, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium - Finland celebrates Mothers' Day on the second Sunday of May.
In Finland primary schools were the first to organize Mothers' Day celebrations; all mothers being invited to the school on the second Sunday in May, where they were given flowers and their children supplied the entertainment. Mothers’ Day 1918 was a particularly important day, as the Finnish Civil War had created thousands of war widows, who were honoured on this day. In 1919, Mothers' Day parties were organized all over Finland. The Second World War once again provided a poignant reason to remember mothers and, as such, since 1946, "The Order of The White Rose" first class medals have been awarded to distinguished mothers in Finland. In 1947 Mothers' Day became an official flag raising day.
Mothering Sunday in England falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday) and has no connection with the American Mothers' Day. It is believed to have originated from the 16th Century Christian practice of paying an annual visit to one's mother church (the main church or Cathedral of the area) which meant that most mothers would be reunited with their children on this day. It is still recognized in the historical sense by many churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus as well as the traditional concept 'mother church'. Traditionally, it was a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family. As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift. Today, it is a day when children give presents, flowers and home-made cards to their mothers.
Mothers' Day falling on different days creates its own unique problem for this writer. Each May, I must remember to buy a Finnish Mothers' Day card and keep it safely for posting to England the following March. The alternative is to rely on one of my sisters to send an English Mothers' Day card from England early enough for me to post it back to my mother. Unfortunately, this year neither of the above happened. The result: on Sunday 18 March, I received a telephone call from my (hurt!) mother. “Have you forgotten something?” she enquired.……
I offer this reminder to everybody in Finland. Your mother is very important don’t forget her on 13 May!
Mike Bangle’s is the owner of Talking English language consultancy and can be contacted at mike.bangle(at)phnet.fi
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