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Show I First Mothers Day Observance Traced To Ancient Romans 'Mothering Sunday' Still Celebrated in Sections Of England. '"pHE setting'Tside" of a specific 1 day on which to honor motherhood mother-hood is not a recent development Mother's day probably had its inception in-ception in the day of the ancient Romans, when they celebrated, on the Ides of March, a festival in honor of the mother of the gods, the people bringing offerings which became the property of the priests. From this practice arose the custom cus-tom of attending the mother church on mid-Lent Sunday with presents for the church. Mid-Lent or mothering mother-ing Sunday still is celebrated in the midland counties of England by apprentices ap-prentices and servants visiting their parents on that day. A special "Mother's day" in Sunday Sun-day schools and churches is attributed attribut-ed to Mfss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, Philadel-phia, who conceived the idea in 1908 when she was asked by the superintendent superin-tendent of the Sunday school in the Virginia town in which her mother had long been the moving spirit, to arrange a memorial service. This observance led to similar ones in other cities and attracted the attention of congress, which on May 10, 1913, passed a resolution commending national observance of the day. In 1914 congress authorized the President to designate, by annual an-nual proclamation, the second Sunday Sun-day in May as Mother's day, and to request the display of the American Ameri-can flag on government buildings and private homes. The first national proclamation was issued by President Wilson May 9, 1914. The origin of the celebration as a public occasion proclaimed by the President has, however, been attributed attrib-uted also to a former president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is said to have made the suggestion May 10, 1904, in a speech at English's Eng-lish's opera house in Indianapolis. A bronze tablet commemorating the event was unveiled in the theater May 10, 1931. |