Happy Mother’s Day

Women have always enjoyed more celebrations than men as there are several days dedicated to appreciating them in a year. Social media has also made these celebrations more popular with people now being more aware than ever before. Apart from the 8^th of March, which is International Women’s Day, we also have two Mother’s Day celebrations. I personally don’t think we even honour them enough as they are a critical aspect of the family and society. Though parenting should be a dual responsibility between the mother and father, women over time have taken a leading role in ensuring that the children are well-raised, trained, and nurtured.

So as the name implies, Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring motherhood, maternal bonds, the mother of the family, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated most commonly in the months of March or May around the world. The former used to be known as mothering Sunday. Most people don’t know that there is a difference between both Mother’s Day celebrations. In simple terms, Mother’s Day is an American Holiday, while Mothering Sunday is an old Christian holiday that is commonly celebrated in some parts of Europe. Mother’s Day is celebrated on the Second Sunday of May in many countries. On the other hand, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. So, this year’s Mothering Sunday fell on the 19th of March, 2023.

Historically, Mothering Sunday is a day honouring mother churches. This is the church where one is baptized and becomes “a child of the church”, celebrated since the Middle Ages^] in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries on the fourth Sunday in Lent. On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the sacrament of baptism.

Inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts, Constance Penswick-Smith in the UK created the Mothering Sunday Movement, and in 1921 she wrote a book asking for the revival of the festival.  Its wide scale revival was through the influence of American and Canadian soldiers serving abroad during World War 11 and the original traditions was merged with the newly imported traditions and celebrated in the wider Catholic and secular society. UK-based merchants and retailers saw the commercial opportunity in the holiday and relentlessly promoted it in the UK and by the 1950s, it was celebrated across all the UK.

People from Ireland and the UK started celebrating Mother’s Day on the same day that Mothering Sunday was celebrated, the fourth Sunday in Lent. The two celebrations have now been mixed up, and many people think that they are the same thing. Other countries in the world celebrate Mother’s Day in May rather than ‘Mothering Sunday’.

Early in the 20th Century, Anna Jarvis in the United States, held a memorial to honour her own mother and all mothers at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.  This event marked the first official observance of Mother’s Day and indeed the International Mother’s Day Shrine at this church has been a designated Historic Landmark in the United States.  In 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson made a proclamation establishing the second Sunday of May as the official date in the US for the observance of a national day to celebrate mothers. 

Important to mention that Motherhood is different from womanhood as the former speaks to reproduction, care, nourishment, and provision. Sacrificial living and giving define motherhood. We can’t imagine a world without mothers as they are the very essence of life. Several cycles of nine months of pregnancy, their inner strength is unimaginable. Just like the proverbial cat that has nine lives, mothers are invincible. Highly sensitive with instincts that are sharper than a lie detector. Vision that is farther than a telescope, their foresight is undeniable. On bended knees in prayer for her family, enterprising, and entrepreneurial she always turns 5 loaves and two fishes into twelve baskets. Mothers are definitely superhumans and deserves to be celebrated each day of the year.

On this special day, I would like to wish all the supermom out there a ‘Happy Mother’s Day.