1、A history of Mothers DayThe first celebrations in honor of mothers were held in the spring in ancient Greece. They paid tribute(贡物) to Rhea(瑞亚), the Mother of the Gods. During the 17th century, England honored mothers on Mothering Sunday,celebratedon the fourth Sunday of Lent (大斋节).In the United Sta
2、tes, JuliaWardHowe suggested the idea of Mothers Day in 1872. Howe, who wrote the words to the BattleHymn(圣歌)of the Republic, saw Mothers Day as being dedicated(献身)to peace.Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia is credited with bringing about the official observance(惯例) of Mothers Day. Her campaign to establi
3、sh such a holiday began as a remembrance of her mother, who died in 1905 and who had, in the late 19th century, tried to establish Mothers Friendship Days as a way to heal the scars of the Civil War.Two years after her mother died, Jarvis held a ceremony in Grafton, W. Va., to honor her. She was so
4、moved by theproceedings that she began a massive campaign to adopt a formal holiday honoring mothers. In 1910, West Virginia(西佛吉尼亚州) became the first state to recognize Mothers Day. A year later, nearly every state officially marked the day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed(公告
5、) Mothers Day as a national holiday to be held on the second Sunday of May.But Jarvisaccomplishmentsoon turned bitter for her.Enraged(被激怒)by the commercialization(商业化) of the holiday, she filed alawsuitto stop a 1923 Mothers Day festival and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a war mother
6、s convention(习俗) where women sold whitecarnations(康乃馨)- Jarvis symbol for mothers - to raise money. This is not what I intended, Jarvis said. I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit!When she died in 1948, at age 84, Jarvis had become a woman of greatironies. Never a mother herself, hermater
7、nalfortune dissipated(消散) by her efforts to stop the commercialization of the holiday she had founded, Jarvis told a reporter shortly before her death that she was sorry she had ever started Mothers Day. Shespokethese words in a nursing home where every Mothers Day her room had been filled with card
8、s from all over the world.Today, because and despite Jarvis efforts, many celebrations of Mothers Days are held throughout the world. Although they do not all fall at the same time, such countries as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium(比利时) also celebrate Mothers Day on the same day as the United States.
