張美云　供稿

作家三毛在《守望的天使》一文中寫道：“每個人的生命中最真誠的天使是自己的父母，天使終其一生舍盡全力來為自己的孩子擋風(fēng)遮雨?！痹讵q太人的諺語里，也有一句類似的表述，而且更為精辟：God could not be everywhere and therefore be made mothers.（上帝不可能無處不在，所以他創(chuàng)造了母親。）在母親節(jié)來臨之際，首先讓我們了解一下母親節(jié)的來歷，并用心送上最為樸實的祝福：母親節(jié)快樂！

The history of Mothers Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks， who held festivities to honor Rhea， the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mothers festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary， the mother of Christ. Interestingly， later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers， and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mothers Day.

In 1907， Anna M. Jarvis （1864-1948）， a Philadelphia schoolteacher， began a movement to set up a national Mothers Day in honor of her mother. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mothers Day observance was a church service honoring Annas mother. Anna handed out her mothers favorite flowers， the white incarnations， on the occasion as they represent sweetness， purity and patience. Annas hard work finally paid off in the year 1914， when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually Mothers day became very popular and gift-giving activity increased. All this commercialization of Mothers day infuriated Anna as she believed that the days sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Regardless of Annas worries， Mothers Day has flourished in the United States. Actually， the second Sunday of May has become one of the most popular days of the year. Although Anna may not be with us， Mothers day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mothers Day at various times during the year， but some such as Denmark， Finland， Italy， Turkey， Australia， and Belgium also celebrate Mothers Day on the second Sunday of May.

母親節(jié)的歷史可以追溯到幾百年前的古希臘，當時，人們都會舉行慶?；顒蛹o念Rhea（瑞亞），古希臘的眾神之母（她是主神宙斯和天后赫拉的母親）。早期的基督徒在大齋節(jié)的第四個星期日慶祝母親的節(jié)日，以此來紀念Mary（耶穌的母親）。有趣的是，宗教秩序的改革使得這一節(jié)日逐漸擴展到了全體母親，并將這一日命名為“母親節(jié)”。后來，在美國定居的英國殖民者由于缺少時間停止了這項傳統(tǒng)。1872年朱麗婭·伍德·霍夫為致力于和平的母親們設(shè)立了一個節(jié)日。這是母親節(jié)在歷史上的里程碑。

1907年，一位費城教師，安娜·米·賈維斯（1864-1948），發(fā)起了一項運動為了設(shè)立一個全國性的“母親節(jié)”以紀念她的母親，她尋求了數(shù)以百計的立法者和商界翹楚的幫助一起來創(chuàng)立一個特殊的日子紀念母親。第一個母親節(jié)的慶?；顒邮窃谝粋€教堂為安娜的母親舉辦的。安娜在儀式上分發(fā)了她母親最喜愛的白色花朵，她們是甜蜜、純潔、耐心的化身。安娜的努力終于在1914年得到了回報，時任總統(tǒng)伍德羅·威爾遜宣布將五月的第二個星期日作為母親節(jié)。

漸漸地，母親節(jié)變得非常流行，送禮活動日趨增加。所有這一切商業(yè)化的活動激怒了安娜，她認為這一天的情感都被貪婪和利益所玷污了。

盡管安娜對此很擔(dān)憂，但母親節(jié)已盛行于美國。事實上，這一天已成為一年當中最受歡迎的日子之一了。雖然安娜現(xiàn)在已不在我們身邊，但母親節(jié)仍在繼續(xù)并流傳到世界各國。世界上許多國家都在一年的不同時期慶祝著母親節(jié)，但是丹麥、芬蘭、意大利、土耳其、澳大利亞和比利時等國還是在五月的第二個星期日慶祝母親節(jié)。

（張美云 供稿）