第1个回答 2011-05-08
5月8母亲节是美国法定的全国性节日。在每年5月的第二个星期日举行。为母亲过节最早源于古希腊的民间风俗。那时,古希腊人每年春天都要为传说中的众神之母、人类母亲的象征--赛比亚举行盛大的庆祝活动。但这时还未形成母亲节。
母亲节是由一位名叫贾维斯的妇女倡导,并由她的女儿安娜·贾维斯发起创立的。
贾维斯夫人是一个有着10个子女的母亲,是当时美国格拉夫顿城教会主日学校的总监。在美国以解放黑奴为目的的南北战争结束后,她在学校里负责讲述美国国殇纪念日的课程。贾维斯是一位心地善良,极富同情心的女人。她讲述着战争中那一个个为正义捐躯的英雄的故事,望着台下那一张张充满稚气的孩子们的脸,一个想法猛然涌上心头:为祖国贡献了这么多英勇战士,保证了战争胜利的,不就是那一个个含辛茹苦地抚育着子女的母亲们吗?她们的儿子血染疆场,承受了最大的痛苦和牺牲的,不也是这些默默无闻的母亲吗?因此,她提出应该设立一个纪念日或母亲节,给这些平凡的女人一些慰藉,表达儿女们对母亲的孝思。可惜的是,这个良好的愿望还没有实现,贾维斯夫人便与世长辞了。她的女儿安娜·贾维斯目睹母亲抚养自己和兄弟姐妹成人的辛劳,深感母亲的提议是适合天理人心的。因此,她写出了几十封信,发给美国国会。地方州长和妇女组织等,提议创立母亲节。在她的一再呼吁下,这一提议得到了社会上的广泛响应和支持。
第2个回答 2011-05-03
Despite popular belief, Mother's Day is not just a holiday invented by Hallmark, but rather it is a holiday dating back several millennia.
The earliest known Mother’s Day originated in Ancient Greece honoring Rhea, mother of all deities, in an annual spring festival. The Romans honored Cybele, the same mother of all deities, and celebrated this festival by calling it the “Hilaria.” Early Christians continued the tradition by celebrating the Virgin Mary, on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In England, the celebration eventually expanded to include all mothers.
Mother’s Day was not an official holiday in the United States until 1914. Modern Americans can thank the perseverance and determination of a woman named Anna Jarvis who, deeply devoted to her own mother, helped to make Mother’s Day an official U.S. holiday.
Jarvis’s mother, Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis, was an activist during the Civil War and lost 8 of her 12 children before they reached adulthood. When she died in 1905, Anna (daughter) was distraught and vowed to devote her life to honoring her mother. Her devotion led her to strive to appoint an official U.S. holiday to recognize mothers. Though Mother’s Day had been celebrated informally for many years, Jarvis wrote many important figures (including U.S. congressmen and prosperous businessmen), imploring them to back Mother’s Day as an official holiday.
Anna’s efforts finally paid off. In 1910, the governor of West Virginia declared Mother's Day a state holiday on the second Sunday in May. The following year, every other state followed suit. By 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill declaring Mother’s Day a Federal Holiday.
At first, celebrations of Mother's Day were relatively private, where children would accompany their mothers to the churches where their baptisms were held. Gradually though, Mother's Day has flourished into a significant and memorable occasion where many people express their love for their mothers through thoughtful gifts and quality time with family.