Mother’s Day is a day that marks the celebration of motherhood and acknowledge everything a mother does assiduously for her child. Mothers are the most important persons of our life and thus Mother’s Day is celebrated with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm across the world. It is observed in the month of May every year.
On this day, you can appreciate your mother by writing beautiful quotes for her and presenting her gifts.
Mother’s Day is usually celebrated on the second Sunday of May every year. This year, we will be celebrating Mother’s Day on May 10.
However, Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21, which is the Spring equinox, in most of the Arab countries.
How International Mother’s Day was born
It is believed that Mother’s Day was first celebrated in the US in the year 1908 when a woman named Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton in West Virginia. Anna’s mother had expressed a desire and had asked her to hold a memorial after her death.
The first World War was going on at that time and following her mother’s desire, Anna created a Mother’s day club to address the health issues of wounded soldiers.
Then after nine years, the then US President Woodrow Wilson signed order and declared second Sunday of every May as a nationwide holiday in the country to celebrate it as Mother’s Day. However, this version of Mother’s Day has been criticised for being too commercialized and Anna had said that it was never her intention.
It is important to celebrate Mother’s Day to thank your mother for everything she does for her child without any selfishness and show her unconditional love and affection. A mother is a child’s first friend with whom he or she shares all of their joys, sorrows, emotions and happiness. Thus it is important to celebrate Mother’s Day to make your mom feel special.
Mother’s Day in Vietnam
‘’Mua Vu Lan’’ is the opportunity each year for Vietnamese people to show their gratitude to their mothers, and indeed ancestors who have preceded them. Ancestor worship is an important element of life throughout Asia, and certainly that is the case throughout Vietnam. It is a Buddhist holiday and it shows how closely ancestor worship relates to Buddhism, rather than there being in conflict.
The date of Mother’s Day, according to legend, goes back to the earliest days of Buddhism. One day, when one of the main Buddhist disciples, Muc Kien, was meditating, he had a vision of his mother being tortured because of her evil deeds when she was alive. She was starving and had no food. He summoned his powers to provide a bowl of rice but it was burnt in the fires before she could eat.
Returning to the conscious world, he asked Buddha for guidance on how he could help her as was his duty as a son. Buddha suggested he call together monks and other devotees to pray and the day this is now celebrated is the day when that praying took place in legend. It varies within the western calendar of course. If you wish to be travelling in Vietnam with kids at that time, then you need to check the date when you book your Vietnam tour package.
The legend incidentally has a happy ending; the prayers resulted in Muc Kien’s mother being released but also many other souls that were suffering. Ever since Mua Vu Lan, ‘’Wandering Souls’ Day’’ is a festival that celebrates the gates of hell being opened for 24 hours to allow troubled spirits to escape.
This links in with ancestor worship because the belief among Vietnamese is that lost souls can therefore return to the family home. The custom of offering food and clothing for ancestors is a result.
It’s a day moms get pampered
When the holiday first caught on, people celebrated by attending church and writing appreciative letters to their mothers.
Later, sending cards and giving presents and flowers were incorporated into the tradition.
According to a report by CNN, this year, Mother’s Day spending is estimated to total $26.7 billion, the National Retail Federation said. People are expected to spend an average of $204.74 to celebrate their moms.
The pampering is probably well-deserved. Insure.com’s Mother’s Day Index, which assigns an annual salary to the work that moms do at home, was valued at $93,920. That represents a 32% increase over last year because of all the extra work moms have had to do during the coronavirus pandemic.
Moms can be the backbone of the household, cooking, fixing up the house and shopping for the family.
So on Sunday, it’s mom’s turn to be taken care of.
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