Mothers are goddesses. Without their infinite love and patience, we would all be brutes. So it’s appropriate that the tradition of honouring mothers originated in ancient Greece, where one of the annual festivals was a tribute to the great mother goddess Rhea Cybele. Rhea gave birth to Zeus, who eventually overthrew the pathologically jealous Cronus to become king of the gods.
From there, it’s difficult to trace the precise history of Mother’s Day. But clearly the idea spread and evolved.
During the 17th century, for example, the English began celebrating “Mothering Sunday” by baking “mothering cakes” and giving them to their mothers as a token of gratitude. It’s a tradition that continues today.
Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia sparked the Mother’s Day tradition in North America. In 1908 she arranged a church service in honour of her mother, who had once tried to establish “Mothers’ Friendship Days” to help heal the emotional scars of the Civil War.
Anna was so touched by the service that she started a campaign to popularize Mother’s Day. She succeeded. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day—the second Sunday of May—a U.S. national holiday.
Today, people around the world celebrate Mother’s Day. Many of them give their mothers chocolate. It’s an especially appropriate gift for this occasion, because it says…
All your life, you’ve indulged others, particularly your children, often at the expense of your own needs, sometimes at the expense of your own happiness. Thank you. Please indulge yourself now. You deserve it, more than words can say.