Mother's Day in Russia

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Mother's Day is a very special holiday that is celebrated around the world to commemorate all mothers and to thank the love and protection that they give their children from birth.

As it is an international celebration, in each country it is celebrated on different days, although the most general is usually the second Sunday in May. However, Mother's Day in Russia takes place on another date. Would you like to know how it is celebrated in this country?

How is Mother's Day in Russia?

Mother's Day in Russia began to be celebrated in 1998, when it was approved by law under the governments of Borís Yeltsin. Since then it has been held on the last Sunday of November every year.

Since this is a fairly new celebration in Russia, there are no established traditions and each family celebrates it in their own way. However, children make gift cards and handmade crafts to thank their mothers for their love and express their feelings.

Other people have a special family dinner where they give mothers a beautiful bouquet of traditional flowers as a symbol of their gratitude, accompanied by a loving message.

In any case, the goal of Mother's Day in Russia is to foster family values ​​and the deep meaning of mothers' love for their children and vice versa.

What is the origin of Mother's Day?

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We can find the origins of Mother's Day in ancient Greece more than 3.000 years ago when celebrations were held in honor of Rea, the titanic mother of gods as important as Zeus, Hades and Poseidon.

The story of Rea tells that she killed her own husband Cronos to protect the life of her son Zeus, because he had eaten his previous children so as not to be overthrown from the throne as he did with his father Uranus.

To prevent Cronos from eating Zeus, Rea devised a plan and disguised a stone with diapers for her husband to consume, believing it to be her son while he was actually growing up on the island of Crete. When Zeus became an adult, Rea managed to make Cronus drink a potion that made the rest of his children vomit.

For the love he showed for his children, the Greeks paid him homage. Later, when the Romans took the Greek gods they also adopted this celebration and in the middle of March offerings were made for three days to the goddess Hilaria in the temple of Cibeles in Rome (representing the Earth).

Later, the Christians transformed this holiday of pagan origin into a different one to honor the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ. In the Catholic saints on December 8 the Immaculate Conception is celebrated, a date that these faithful adopted to commemorate Mother's Day.

Already in the 1914th century, the president of the United States Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in XNUMX the second Sunday of May as the official Mother's Day, a gesture that was echoed in many other countries of the world. However, some countries with a Catholic tradition continued to keep the holiday in December although Spain separated it to move it to the first Sunday in May.

When is Mother's Day celebrated in other countries?

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United States

This country celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. The first to do it the way we know it was Anna Jarvis in honor of her late mother in May 1908 in Virginia. Later, she campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a national holiday in the United States, and it was declared so in 1910 in West Virginia. Then other states would quickly follow suit.

France

In France, Mother's Day is a more recent tradition, since it began to be celebrated in the XNUMXs. Before that, some days the efforts of some women who had given birth to a large number of children to help restore the decimated population of the country after the Great War were recognized and even awarded medals of merit.

At present it is celebrated on the last Sunday in May unless it coincides with Pentecost. If so, Mother's Day takes place on the first Sunday in June. Whatever the date, the traditional thing is for children to give their mothers a cake in the shape of a flower.

China

In this Asian country, Mother's Day is also a relatively new celebration, but more and more Chinese people celebrate the second Sunday in May with gifts and lots of joy with their mothers.

Mexico

Mother's Day is commemorated in Mexico with great enthusiasm and it is an important date. The celebration begins the day before when it is tradition for children to serenade their mothers or grandmothers, either by themselves or by hiring the services of professional musicians.

The next day a special church service is held and the children give their mothers the gifts they have created at school for them.

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Thailand

The Queen Mother of Thailand, Her Majesty Sirikit, is also considered the mother of all her Thai subjects so the country's government has celebrated Mother's Day on his birthday (August 12) since 1976. It is a national holiday that is celebrated in style with fireworks and many candles.

Japan

Mother's Day in Japan gained great popularity after World War II and is currently celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

This holiday is lived in a homely and traditional way. Normally children draw pictures of their mothers, prepare dishes that they have taught them to cook and also give them pink or red carnations as they symbolize purity and sweetness.

United Kingdom

Mother's Day in the UK is one of the oldest holidays in Europe. In the XNUMXth century, the fourth Sunday of Lent was called Mothering Sunday in honor of the Virgin Mary. and the families took the opportunity to get together, go to mass and spend the day together.

On this special day, children prepare different gifts for their mothers, but there is one that cannot be missed: the Simnel Cake, a delicious fruit cake with a layer of almond paste on top.

Portugal and Spain

In both Spain and Portugal, Mother's Day used to be celebrated on December 8 on the occasion of the Immaculate Conception but it was eventually divided and the two festivities were separated.


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