| Mother's Day | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Mother%27s_day_gifts.jpg) Examples of handmade Mother's Day gifts | |
| Observed by | United States |
| Type | Commercial, cultural, religious |
| Observances | Holiday card and gift giving, churchgoing accompanied by the distribution of carnations, and family dinners[1] |
| Begins | 2nd Sunday of May |
| Date | Second Sunday in May |
| 2023 date | May 14 |
| 2024 date | May 12 |
| 2025 date | May 11 |
| 2026 date | May 10 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Father's Day |
Mother's Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well as their positive contributions to their families and society. It was established by Anna Jarvis, with the first Mother's Day celebrated through a service of worship at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908.[2] Popular observances include holiday card and gift giving, churchgoing often accompanied by the distribution of carnations, and family dinners.[1] In the United States, Mother's Day complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day, Siblings Day and Grandparents Day.
Internationally, many Mother's Day celebrations have different origins and traditions, some also influenced by this more recent American tradition. For the international celebration, see Mother's Day.
- ^ a b J. Ellsworth Kalas (October 19, 2009). Preaching the Calendar: Celebrating Holidays and Holy Days. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664227142.
Church attendance on this day is likely to be third only to Christmas Eve and Easter. Some worshipers still celebrate with carnations, colored if the mother is living and white if she is deceased.
- ^ O'Reilly, Andrea (April 6, 2010). Encyclopedia of Motherhood. Sage Publications (CA). p. 602. ISBN 978-1-4522-6629-9.
She organized the first official Mother's Day service at Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on the morning of May 10, 1908. That same afternoon, 15,000 people attended a Mother's Day service at the Wanamaker Store Auditorium in Philadelphia, which she also organized. Jarvis chose the second Sunday in May for Mother's Day to mark the anniversary of her mother's death and selected her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation, as the day's official emblem.