About Mother’s Day
About Mother's Day
Mother's Day is celebrated across the world, in more than 50 countries, though not all countries celebrate it on the same day.
Countries that celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May include Australia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and Belgium. In Mexico and many parts of Latin America, Mother's Day is celebrated on May 10th of each year. In Thailand, it is celebrated on August 12th, the birthday of the current Queen.
Early History
Arguably, the tradition of a day to celebrate mothers can be traced back to the times of the ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honour Rhea, the mother of the gods.
Early Christians celebrated the fourth Sunday of Lent as a Mother's festival to honour Mary, the mother of Christ.
In the UK, the tradition of Mother's Day is now very similar to its American counterpart, but its origins are different, as the day commemorates returning to your mother church on the fourth Sunday in Lent.
The English colonists who settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday, as presumably, it would have been a bit of a trip to return to their mother church for the day.
Date |
Country |
|---|---|
Second Sunday of February |
Norway |
8th March |
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Vietnam |
Fourth Sunday of Lent |
Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Nigeria, United Kingdom |
21st March |
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen |
10th May |
Mexico, El Salvador, Guatamala |
Second Sunday of May |
Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Malaysia, Malta, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, Vietnam, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
26th May |
Poland |
30th May |
Nicaragua |
Last Sunday of May |
Algeria, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sweden, Tunisia |
12th August |
Thailand |
15th October |
Malawi |
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