Land mothers of today are very different from those of the past. Previously devoted almost exclusively to the family, today mothers are more than ever multitasking and – rightly so – do not give up their careers, their interests and friendships.
The fact remains that Mother’s Day, the third most celebrated in the world after Christmas and Easter, is always a great time to celebrate what remains one of the most important figures, if not the most important, in the life of each of us.
When Mother’s Day was born
In Italy, Mother’s Day is celebrated the first Sunday of Maywhich this year falls on the 8th day. But how did this festival come about?
Mother’s Day has very remote origins. Like many elements of Western culture, it dates back to theAncient Greece. At that time, the celebrations were linked to the cult of female deities and fertility and to the transition from the colds of winter to the milder temperatures of spring and summer.
Even though millennia have passed since then, Mother’s Day has retained its original meaning, which is the celebration of one of the greatest manifestations of femininity: motherhood.
The celebration, as we know it today, is instead linked to the United States where the ‘Mother’s Day’ was born for civil and social reasons in the late 1800s when universal suffrage and the abolition of slavery were called for. In 1970 the pacifist Julia Ward Howe proposed a day dedicated to mothers, in which the theme of the party was peace. In reality it was then thanks to activist Anna M. Jarvis which was officially recognized.
In 1908 Mother’s Day was made official – ratified in 1914 by President Wilson – that it also kept peace and universal love as its message.
Side note: ironically, Anna Jarvis not only never had children, but ended up fight all life against commercial drift who had taken this celebration, only to die alone in a hospice.
Curiosities from the world
Mothers and Daughters (Getty Images)
Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world, with different dates and events, which all carry the same meaning, however, that of thanking mothers for all the love they give us every day. For example, in the United Kingdom it is celebrated in March, while in Spain, France, Italy and Germany in May and in Thailand also in August, Queen Sirikit’s birthday. There Norway he hinged it in February, perhaps to give some light to the eternal Nordic night. While in Argentina he waits until October, that is, until the austral spring which begins on 23 September.
It makes you smile that, despite the differences between countries, in most languages around the world the word “mother” always begins with the letter “m” ...
Another curiosity? In Italy there is a kind of dispute on the first Mother’s Day. Some say that it was celebrated for the first time in 1956 in Bordighera from an idea of Mayor Raul Zaccari which, subsequently, decided to present an ad hoc bill in Parliament to institutionalize the event. If true, it would explain why flowers are one of the symbols of this day given that Bordighera is famous for its greenhouses. Others, on the other hand, affirm that the first real celebration of the Italian mother came in 1957, in Assisi, thanks to Don Otello Migliosi.
Regardless of who is right, Mother’s Day is upon us … Don’t be caught unprepared, in the gallery above our tips for hi-tech gifts that will be appreciated.
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