Did you know that Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days in other countries? As well as helping you learn languages, The Language Guru offers you a snapshot into the traditions and customs of those who speak the languages around the world.
In 2018, Mother’s Day falls on:
11th March for the UK
6th May for Spain and Portugal
13th May for Germany and Italy (and the USA!)
27th May for France
How did Mother’s Day come about?
The origins of Mother’s Day date back to ancient Greek times, but the way in which we celebrate it today began in America in the early 20th century.
The ancient Greeks dedicated an annual spring festival to maternal goddesses, and ancient Romans also celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria which was for a mother goddess called Cybele.
More recent origins of Mothering Sunday date back to the 1600s in England when it was held on the fourth Sunday of Lent.
It was originally a day for Christians to visit their ‘mother church’. Servants were given the day off the return to their home town and worship with their families. Returning home, young people would pick wild flowers to place in the church or to give to their mothers. This is allegedly why we often given flowers.
It has since evolved into the more secular celebration we know today.
Why is the date different in other countries?
The dates are either fixed due to religious reasons or chosen to coincide with certain special days.
Mother’s Day was first marked in 1908 in the USA, when a woman called Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. By 1911, Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every US state and on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution document that confirmed every second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Mothering Sunday is still a religious holiday celebrated by Catholic and Protestant Christians in some parts of Europe, still falling on the fourth Sunday of Lent three weeks before Easter Sunday.
UK
Mother’s Day in the UK is the forerunner to Father’s Day and now Grandparent’s Day, when we take time out to show love and appreciation for the special people in our lives. The giving of cards, gifts, flowers and chocolates is now ubiquitous with Mother’s Day, as are family lunches and now cakes. Commercialised or not, it’s a great opportunity to express thanks for being brought into the world!
Spain
In Spain, Mother’s Day or Día de la Madre is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. In general, mothers receive gifts by their children and family members and the day is meant to be celebrated with the whole family. It is also said to be celebrated in May as the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, according to Catholicism.
Italy
Mother’s Day in Italy was celebrated for the first time on 24 December 1933 as the “Day of the Mother and the Child” (Giornata della madre e del fanciullo), instituted by the Opera Nazionale Maternità e Infanzia to publicly reward Italian women who had the most offspring each year.
After World War II, Mother’s Day was first celebrated on 12 May 1957 in Assisi, at the initiative of Reverend Otello Migliosi, the parish priest of the Tordibetto Church. This celebration was so popular that in the following year Mother’s Day was adopted throughout Italy.
Germany
Muttertag was originally instigated in Germany in the 1920s to encourage women to have more children and was once again reinstated after the war.
France
In the early 1900s, France was another country trying to increase the birth rate, giving medals to mothers of large families. Mother’s Day in France became commercialised in the 1950s.
A special family medal, known as the Médaille de la Famille is traditionally given to some parents, including those who have raised several children and some parents whose spouses have been killed.
Happy Mother’s Day – translations
French – Bonne fête des mères
German – Schönen Muttertag
Spanish – Feliz día de la madre
Italian – Buona festa della mamma
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*Sources: www.clareflorist.co.uk/international-mothers-day.aspx, www.independent.co.uk www.theindependent.co.uk, www.thesun.co.uk and Wikipedia