SILICON VALLEY -- Since the beginning of Mother's Day, photographers, painters and illustrators had depicted mothers tenderly protecting their children in their arms, in the cards that people send to their mothers on that day. The images are used even in Mother's Day religious cards, but on those cards, the picture of the Virgin Mary tenderly holding Jesus in her arms, has another meaning. It represents Mary, our mother in Heaven, promise to protect from all evil all her children, which are us. Those promises are a consolation to Christians, specially this year, And if you ever wonder How Mother's Day started, keep reading this article.
The origin of Mother's Day, as celebrated in the United States, goes back to the years before the Civil War (1861-1865) when a woman from West Virginia , by the name of ANN REEVES JARVIS started clubs to teach local women how to take proper care of their children. The clubs were named "Mothers' Day Work Clubs."
In a region of the country (USA) still divided by the Civil War, the clubs became a unifying force. In 1868, JARVIS organized "Mothers' Friendship Day." It was a political movement because on that day, 'the mothers' gathered with the Union and the Confederate soldiers and tried to promote a reconciliation.
In l870, abolitionist and suffragette woman JULIA WARD HOWE wrote a proclamation which she called "Mother's Day Proclamation." It was a call for action, asking all mothers to unite in promoting world peace. She campaigned for a "Mothers' Peace Day" and chose June 2 at the date to be celebrated. Another Mother's Day pioneer was activist JULIET CALHOUN BLAKELY who inspire a local Mother's Day in Albion , Michigan, during the same year.
But, interesting to note, is that the first Mother's Day had also a father in FRANK HERING, who with MARY TOWLES SASSEEN worked to organize a day to celebrate mothers in the late 19th Century.
'Mother's Day' as we know it now, however, is the result of the efforts of ANNA JARVIS, (the daughter of ANN REEVES JARVIS) who in 1905, following her mother's death, conceived of creating a day to honor the sacrifices mothers made for their children. After gaining the financial Backing of Philadelphia Department Store Owner JOHN WANAMAKER, in May l908, the first official Mother's Day was celebrated at the Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. On the same day, thousands of people in Philadelphia attended a Mother's Day Event at one of WANAMAKER's stores.
Years later, with a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians, JARVIS, resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar. in 1914, then President WOODROW WILSON signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
MOTHERS ' DAY in LATIN AMERICA
Photo by Unsplash Picture
Mother's Day in Mexico and in some countries in Latin America is always celebrated on May 10.
Catholics believe to have a mother on earth and another in heaven in the Virgin Mary. Fearful mothers, place their children, since birth, in the hands of Mary and ask her to protect them, from the rest of their lives, under her mantle. Mary's intersection in solving problems, in healing and a number of miracles are written in the pages of thousands of books.
As an advocate, she is strong, and she can fight the Devil, (which is evil) so in many of her different representation, in pictures and statuettes, we see her stomping the head of the Devil (represented as a serpent0 with her bare feet.
If you are familiar with her story, you may remember that Our Lady of Guadalupe herself, assumed the role of 'our mother' when she told San Juan Diego in the Monte del Tepeyac, Mexico, on December 9, 1531, during her apparitions .
Fear Nothing. Am I not here who are your mother?
Mother's Day 2020, is going to be unique for mothers, around the whole world. Because of the Pandemic and the stay-at-home laws, it will not be celebrated: No family reunion, no lunch or dinners, no gifts, not even flowers, which is sad, because the year 2020 will be remembered as the year when their role, as mothers had been tested to the top.
In some states, most mothers have been cooped inside their houses with their husbands and children for six weeks. Those who still have a job, are working from home, and while working, supervising their children, helping them to do their school work, keeping them entertained and playing the multiple roles of advisor, counselor, nurse, dentist and doctor, to name a few. To these chores we can add cooking cleaning, washing, ironing and in between, going out to pump gas in their cars, with globes on their hands shopping at the supermarkets pushing disinfected carts, with a mask on their face, and keeping six feet distance from everyone when they walk on the street. Those who have husbands (at home)may have added chores.
Many workers are now being called super heroes for their different labor. CULTURAL WORLD BILINGUAL would like to suggest that on Mother's Day 2020, among the super heroes, we add the mothers around the world.