關于母親節的來歷，我們似乎并不陌生——一位名叫安娜·賈維思的女性在她母親去世一年后，用自己的行動使這一具有悠久歷史的紀念活動上升為官方節日。不過，在這之前，母親節最早可追溯到古希臘的眾神之母瑞亞，她是主神宙斯和天后赫拉的母親。另外，不同國家，慶祝母親節的日期也不盡相同，比如：我們熟悉的“五月的第二個星期日”實際上是采用了美國的習俗，而在英國，母親節則定在四旬節的第四個星期日。

Jewish Proverb: God could not be everywhere and therefore be made mothers.     Ancient celebrations of motherhood Rhea, Mother of the Greek gods People in many ancient cultures celebrated holidays honoring motherhood, personified as a goddess. Here are just a few of those: Ancient Greeks celebrated a holiday in honor of Rhea(Photo), the mother of the gods, including Zeus.  Ancient Romans celebrated a holiday in honor of Cybele, a mother goddess. In the British Isles and Celtic Europe, the goddessBrigid(Photo), and later her successor St. Brigid, were honored with a spring Mother's Day.     Motherhood honoured in modern times  Mothers' Day is not celebrated on the same day throughout the world, for instance, in America Mother's Day occurs on the second Sunday in May while in Britain it is honored on the fourth Sunday in Lent(For more information on Lent, please check out Lent in "Easter's dictionary" or Carnival in "Word & Story"). ** Mother's Day in Britain (March 21st, 2006 ) simnel cake, a rich fruitcake sometimes covered with almond paste Mothering Sunday was celebrated in Britain beginning in the 17th century. It began as a day when apprentices and servants could return home for the day to visit their mothers. Traditionally,  men went home with a gift of "mothering cake" -- a kind of fruitcake or fruit-filled pastry known as simnel cake (Photo ). **  Mother's Day in America (May 14th, 2006)  Thanks to Anna M. Jarvis, Mother's Day has become an official holiday in the United States. After a year when her mother died on May 9, 1905, Anna M. Jarvis attended a memorial service at their church. Inspired by the service, she thought it would be wonderful if people set aside a time to pay personal tribute to their mothers. Then, the daughter began using some of her inheritance to promote a day that would honor all mothers. She and others staged a letter-writing campaign to ministers, businessmen, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. They were successful in the end. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day a national observance that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.     Carnation: the symbol of Mother's Day It was Jarvis who originated the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day because carnation was her mother's favorite flower. A pink carnation is to honor a living mother and a white carnation is memory of a mother who passed away. (英語點津陳蓓編輯）

Vocabulary:

Rhea: 瑞亞，希臘神話中Zeus（宙斯）的母親 Cybele: 西布莉(小亞細亞神話中的眾神之母，與希臘女神Rhea等同) Brigid: 布里奇德，凱爾特神話中的橡樹之神，同時也是詩歌的保護神，因為產于沼澤的橡樹是凱爾特民族的象征，所以Brigid被認為是愛爾蘭國的國母。 simnel: 一種含油豐富的水果蛋糕，有時上面澆有杏仁糖漿，傳統上在大齋節期間、復活節和圣誕節食用 Anna M. Jarvis: 安娜·賈維思