Our world is changing, but everyone still has a mom. However, Mother’s Day is celebrated in different ways around the world.
Mother’s Day Around the World
Traditions can be religious or secular. Some are strongly commercial. Roses are traditional in some cultures. Carnations in others. Mother’s Day is the biggest church-going day after Easter and Christmas.
The USA celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May.
March Celebrations
Many countries celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 as a sort of Mother’s Day.
May Celebrations
Spain, Portugal, Cape Verde, and Romania celebrate on the first Sunday in May.
Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador celebrate on May 10. Las Mañanitas is a traditional Mexican song for Mother’s Day.
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Italy, Peru, Puerto Rico, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela celebrate on the second Sunday in May. It is a major gift-giving day in Brazil.
Paraguay celebrates on May 15 to honor Paraguayan patriot Juana María de Lara.
The Dominican Republic and France celebrate on the last Sunday in May. In France, if the last Sunday is Pentecost, Mother’s Day is the first Sunday in June.
Bolivia celebrates on May 27 to commemorate the Battle of La Coronilla in Cochabamba when women fought in the Bolivian War of Independence in 1812.
Nicaragua celebrates on May 30. President Anastasio Somoza García set the date because it was the birthday of his mother-in-law.
August Celebrations
Costa Rica celebrates on August 15 with the Assumption of Mary.
October Celebrations
Argentina celebrates on the third Sunday in October.
December Celebrations
Panama celebrates on December 8 with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The date was chosen by the wife of Panamanian President Florencio Harmodio Arosemena (1928-1931).
Mother’s Day Origins
Mother’s Day celebrations go back at least to the Greeks and Romans. Some Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as Mother’s Day on December 8. A European Christian tradition called “Mothering Sunday” on the fourth Sunday of Lent (usually in March) has become Mother’s Day in some countries. International Women’s Day has some elements of mother’s day.
An early attempt at Mother’s Day in the United States was American poet Julia Ward Howe’s call for a “Mother’s Day for Peace” in 1872. She wanted mothers to support disarmament.
Mother’s Day as we know it in the United States was started by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia after her mother died in 1905. Her mother had been a peace activist who nursed soldiers of both sides in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Ms. Jarvis promoted Mother’s Day to honor her mother’s work.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson designated the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in the United States. However you celebrate, we love you, Mom!
Retrato de una Madre (Portrait of a Mother)
This is a popular Mother’s Day poem in the Spanish-speaking world.
By Ramon Angel Jara (Santiago, Chile, 1852-1917)
Hay una mujer que tiene algo de Dios por la inmensidad de su amor
y mucho de ángel por la incansable solicitud de sus cuidados.
Una mujer que siendo joven tiene la reflexión de una anciana
y en la vejez trabaja con el vigor de la juventud.
Una mujer que si es ignorante descubre los secretos de la vida con más acierto que un sabio
y si es instruida se acomoda a la simplicidad de los niños.
Una mujer que siendo pobre se satisface con la felicidad de los que ama
y siendo rica daría con gusto su tesoro por no sufrir en su corazón la herida de la ingratitud.
Una mujer que siendo vigorosa se estremece con el vagido de un niño
y siendo débil se reviste a veces con la bravura del león.
Una mujer que mientras vive no sabemos estimar porque a su lado todos los dolores se olvidan,
pero después de muerta daríamos todo lo que somos y todo lo que tenemos por mirarla de nuevo un solo instante,
por recibir de ella un solo abrazo, por escuchar un solo acento de sus labios.
De esa mujer no me exijáis el nombre si no queréis que empape con lágrimas vuestro album porque ya la vi pasar en mi camino.
Cuando crezcan vuestros hijos leedles esta página y ellos, cubriendo de besos vuestra frente,
os dirán que un humilde viajero, en pago del suntuoso hospedaje recibido,
ha dejado aquí para vos y para ellos un boceto del retrato de su Madre.