The history of Mother's day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother’s festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include ali mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother’s Day.
母亲节的历史已有数世纪之久，最早可以追溯到古希腊的民俗。那时候，古希腊人每年都要为传说中的众神之母瑞亚举行庆祝活动。早期的基督教徒是在封斋节的第四个星期日来庆祝母亲节，以纪念耶稣的母亲圣母玛利亚。有趣的是，此后的一项宗教法规延伸了这一节日的意义，其庆祝的对象包括了全天下所有的母亲，并把这一天定为“母亲的星期日”。而等到英国殖民者踏上美洲大陆，由于时间的缺乏，“母亲的星期日”这一节日便被废止。到了1872年，一位名叫朱莉亚·沃德·豪的人创设了一天来纪念那些为和平献身的母亲们。这在母亲节历有着里程碑的重要意义。
In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864一1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother’s Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother’s favorite flowers, the white incarnations, an the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914,when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.
1907年，美国费城的一位安娜·M二贾维斯(1864一1948年)教师为了缅怀她的母亲—安娜·玛丽亚·里夫斯·贾维斯，开始发起运动，呼吁设立一个全国性的母亲节。她向数百位立法者及商界精英寻求帮助，恳请他们为所有的母亲们设立一个纪念的节日。第一次母亲节的庆祝活动是在一个教堂里举行，以此纪念安娜的母亲。安娜献上了她母亲生前最喜欢的花—白色的康乃馨，那正象征着母亲的温柔、纯洁和坚忍。安娜的不懈努力终于换得了回报。1914年，当时的美国总统伍德罗·威尔逊郑重宣布，把每年5月的第二个星期天定为母亲节，向全天下的母亲表示敬意。
Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother's day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day’s sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit
逐渐地，母亲节流行开来，节日当天向母亲赠送礼物等庆祝活动也不断地增加。在见到借助母亲节而发展起来的形形色色的商业活动后，安娜很愤怒，因为她相信母亲节的真正意义所在已被各种利益和贪欲污染了。
Regardiess of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us but the Mother's day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother’s Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy，Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.
抛开安娜·贾维斯的担忧，母亲节的庆祝活动在美国的确开展得如火如茶。事实上，每年五月第二个星期日已经成为了一年当中欢迎的日子。尽管安娜可能不赞同我们的这些做法，但是母亲节的庆祝活动必将不断开展下去，并传到世界其他更多的国家去。每年，世界的很多国家都在不同的时间举行母亲节的庆祝活动，但像丹麦、芬兰、意大利、土耳其、澳大利亚和比利时这些国家母亲节也是定在五月第二个星期日
