Mother’s Day 2012 – The Day we show love and appreciation to our Mother
Sunday 13 May is celebrated as Mothers’ Day in Australia and in many other countries of the world. Some countries celebrate this Day on a different date.
Showing special honour to Mothers goes as far back as Biblical times. Whenever a new king was crowned his mother’s name was recorded in Scripture
The early Church celebrated “Mothering Sunday”. This is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This Day is still observed in Ireland and Great Britain.
Mothering Sunday is also called Simnel Sunday because of the tradition of baking Simnel Cakes. A Simnel Cake is a round fruit cake with a thin layer of Marzipan on the top. Eleven round balls of marzipan are arranged around the edge of the top of the cake. These represent the twelve Apostles minus Judas who betrayed Jesus. Because of the fast restrictions during Lent, the cakes are not eaten at this time but a saved until Easter Day
The ancient Greeks had the Festival to Cybele, and the Romans, the Festival of Matronalia to honour mothers.
In “modern times “, a specific day was set aside in the USA after the American Civil War, when groups of mothers whose sons had fought and died on opposite sides during the War, met together. These meetings were mainly at a local level.
In 1868, a lady named Ann Jarvis in the USA was responsible for what we now know as Mothers ‘Day. This Day was given official recognition by President Woodrow Wilson. A Proclamation was made in 1914 that designated the second Sunday in May as Mothers’ Day
For a more detailed article on Mothers’ Day see my Post, Mothers’ Day- the Hand That Rocks the Cradle
I discovered this poem written by that well known and loved poetess Helen Steiner Rice
A Mother’s Love
A Mother’s love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away…
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking…
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems…
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation…
A many splendour-ed miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God’s tender guiding hand.
(Author: Helen Steiner Rice)
On this special day, Mother’s Day, we have an opportunity to show our Mothers, how much we love and appreciate them. Of course it would be even better if we did this every day!
Doctor Bill
