Sunday is Mother’s Day in the United States. Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world, but not always on the same day. Some historians say the holiday comes fromancient spring festivals in Greece and Rome. A more modern Mother’s Day began in the seventeenth century in Britain.
The writer Julia Ward Howe made the first known suggestion for a Mother’s Day in the United States. That was in eighteen-seventy-two. She said it should be a day to celebrate peace. Mother’s Day as it is celebrated today began with a woman named Anna Jarvis. In nineteen-oh-seven, she held a ceremony to honor her mother at a church in the state of West Virginia. She held the ceremony on the anniversary of her mother’s death. Later, she and others wrote thousands of letters to public officials urging that the second Sunday in May be declared Mother’s Day.
President Woodrow Wilson and the United States Congress finally agreed in nineteen-fourteen. The second Sunday in May became a day of public expression of love for mothers throughout the country. It became popular for people to send gifts of flowers and candy to their mothers on Mother’s Day.
Today, children of all ages still give their mothers special gifts on Mother’s Day. Older children may travel to visit their mothers. If they cannot, they usually send a special card with a message of love. Or they send flowers. They also usually call their mothers on the telephone to wish them a happy day. Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year for America’s telephone companies.
Some families get together on Mother’s Day to honor all the women in the family who are mothers. Many go to a restaurant for a special Mother’s Day meal.
辅助阅读：
世界上只有一位最好的女性,她便是慈爱的母亲。
世界上只有一种最美丽的声音,那便是母亲的呼唤。
母亲节的由来
起源于希腊
母亲节起源于希腊，古希腊人在这一天向希腊神话中的众神之母赫拉致敬。在17世纪中叶，母亲节流传到英国，英国人把封斋期的第四个星期天作为母亲节。在这一天里，出门在外的年青人将回到家中， 给他们的母亲带上一些小礼物。现代意义上的母亲节起源于美国，由Amanm、Jarvis(1864-1948) 发起，她终身未婚，一直陪伴在她母亲身边。于1905年世纪，在母亲去世时， Amanm悲痛欲绝。两年后(1907年)，Amanm和她的朋友开始写信给有 影响的部长、商人、议员来寻求支持，以便让母亲节成为一个法定的节日。Amanm认为子女经常忽视了对母亲的感情，她希望母亲节能够让人 多想一想母亲为家庭所付出的一切。
第一个母亲节于1908年5月10日在西弗吉尼亚和宾夕法尼亚州举行， 在这次节日里，康乃磬被选中为献给母亲的花，并以此流传下来。1913年，美国国会通过了一份议案，将每年5月的第二个星期天作为 法定的母亲节。母亲节从此流传开来!
母亲节在英国
十七世纪英格兰，为表达对英国母亲们的敬意，乃订四旬斋的第四个星期日为「Mothering Sunday」，人们在这一天回家探视双亲，并致礼表示敬意。(注：四旬斋是指复活节前夕之前，星期天除外的40天。当时，有许多的穷人必须在有钱人家里帮 讨生活，而被迫离家寄宿在主人家里，在Mothering Sunday这一天，主人们会放他们假，并鼓励他们返家与妈妈团聚。为增加欢乐气氛，也发展了一种特别的蛋糕称为-mothering cake。随着基督神在欧洲的扩散，这个节日转为对「Mother Church」的崇敬：表达人们对赋予他们生命、保护他们免於伤害的精神力量的感谢。从此，教会的仪式便与母亲节的庆祝活动相结合，以同时传达人们对母亲与教会的感念。
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