Mother's Day celebration in the US is on the second Sunday of May. in the below article we would like to share with you how important women's role is in the society also the origin and dates of this celebration in few other countries around the world
The Universal Celebration
Women around the world have assumed different roles and responsibilities. All thoughout history we have unique examples of women rulers, revolutionists scientists and so much more, but the most influential of all is the role of a mother. Not only she influences her children but it extends to the whole society as these children will become the future leaders. Naguib Mahfouz the famous Egyptian writer and Nobel award winner in 1988 said that the mother is like a school, if she is well prepared for her role, she will produce a nation that is of great value. Accordingly in appreciation to her great role, most countries around the world dedicate one day each year to say thank her and let her know how special she is.
Many great examples in history represents a living proof that women are capable of so many things. 5000 years ago, Mernith was the first woman ruler in ancient Egypt. Throughout the Egyptian history we have 13 women who ruled Egypt and were as powerful as the mightiest pharaohs such as Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and the beautiful Cleopatra. Women were also great scientists, so many discoveries were made by women which has substantially shaped our world roday. Marie Curie whose research in radioactivity in the early 1900 has benefited so many people, as radiation is now used to kill cancer which is the second cause of death in the US. Even in astrology, Maria Margarethe Kirch was the first famous women astronomer and on 21 March 1702, Maria discovered a comet which was not known before, hence becoming the first woman to make such a discovery.
But the most respected and sublime role of women is her role as a mother. She offers her children unconditional love, continuous forgiveness, complete dedication and self sacrifice, which make the acknowledgement of her role a necessity. More then 40 countries around the world have dedicated a special day to celebrate mothers. Though dates and origin of the celebration may be different from one country to another, two things are common between all the countries. First they all share one objective, which is to make her feel special and express appreciation and love to her . Second is offering flowers, most children across the world offers their mother flowers as a gift on this special occasion.
Let us tour the five continents to know when and how this special day came to life in few countries.
In the United States, it was Anna M. Javis who made this day come to life. As a result of her efforts and the national campaign she led asking to dedicate a special day to mothers, finally in 1914, the congress passed a resolution, designating the 2nd Sunday of May as Mother’s day which coincides with the date of Anna’s mother death.
Traveling to Latin America, Mexico Mother's Day, or Dia de las Madres as it is called there, is May 10 since the early 1900s. In 1922 Rafael Alducin, a journalist wrote an article strongly recommending to have a special day to celebrate mother’s role. Due to his article, Mother’s Day became an official holiday that is celebrated all across Mexico.
In Europe, France celebrates Mother's Day on June 7. The celebration dates back to 1920, the celebration was to encourage the mothers to have more children by offering medals to mothers according to the number of children they have. The objective was to encourage the re-population of France after WW1. Later this was no more the focus and Mother’s day became a day to celebrate love and appreciation to mothers.
Going to Asia, In Japan, the name for Mother's Day is haha no hi. The day was celebrated since the early 1900 by the Christian Japanese following the western practice, but this was stopped after WW1. However after the war, Mothers day celebration picked up again as a way to soothe the mothers who lost their children in the war. By 1949 the Mother’s day celebration had became popular again in the whole of Japan. Drawing contests are organized for children and the winning ones would tour Japan and other countries in celebration of mothers.
Lastly we will visit Egypt in Africa, where, one of the earliest historical records of a society celebrating a mother deity can be witnessed. The ancient Egyptians held an annual festival to honor the goddess Isis, (goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility) as she was worshiped as the ideal mother. The modern Mother’s day celebration in Egypt takes place on the beginning of spring. Mustafa Amin, the famous Egyptian journalist introduced the celebration after being moved by a true story of a widowed mother who devoted her whole life to raise her son until he became a doctor. Later he got married and left her without showing showing her any gratitude nor appreciation. Touched by her story, Amin campaigned for "Mother's Day". At the beginning the idea was not very well welcomed by the current president Gamal Abdel Nasser but he eventually accepted it and Mother's Day was first celebrated on the 21st of March in 1956.
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