The Woman's Word – Mother's Day at Its Golden Jubilee

Exactly fifty years ago, Anna Jarvis called upon the people of Philadelphia in the United States to join in a prayer for their mothers... Her call came as a charming novelty among the novelties of the age, and the world received it with much acceptance and admiration, convinced of the loftiness of the aim she pursued.

Anna Jarvis's distinction is that she was the first to give warning of the danger of that sweeping torrent which, for more than half a century, has kept carrying away the rising generation, producing a scandalous change in children's view of their mothers. Whereas in times past this view was safeguarded within a frame of reverence and acknowledgment of merit, among children it has been deviating, little by little, toward an absolute selfishness that encroaches upon every authority and every right — influenced by the spirit of the age, which grants the young independence, freedom, and an abundance of demands and desires, all at the expense of the parents, and especially of the mothers — as though it were forever decreed for these that their lives should remain a chain of sacrifices and givings, and nothing more!

From here sprang the idea of "Mother's Day," and in view of the nobility and beauty of what it symbolizes, the civilized peoples responded to it, and it spread from America to Europe and to the Near and Far East. Its call may be summed up in the gracious turning of our attention to our mothers on the second Sunday of May, to remind us of the necessity of giving to them, serving them, and repaying them in kind — even if only one day in the year.

Our mother — that gentle, tender human being who rises so high in her devotion and her giving that she draws near to the Creator!

Our mother — that sweet, beloved creature who freely offers herself in sacrifice for the little ones who dwelt beside her inmost being for a handful of months.

Let us then spread the call for "Mother's Day" in our homes and our societies, and in every circle, near or far, that our voices or our pens can reach:

And let us keep this remembrance as a feast, with all the depth, joy, and love there is in motherhood — for the mother is the image of God on earth!