other’s Day is fast approaching, but keeping up with the date can be tricky.
Not only does it land on a different date each year, different countries around the world celebrate it at different times.
Here is everything you need to know about Mother’s Day 2022 and its origins around the world.
When is Mother’s Day 2022 in the UK?
Unlike Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween, Mothering Sunday falls on different dates in different countries every year.
This year, the UK will celebrate Mother’s Day on March 27.
The UK date of this celebration is rooted in the Christian observance of Mothering Sunday.
Mothering Sunday takes place on the fourth Sunday in the festival of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday.
This observance originated in the Middle Ages, when children who had left their families to work in domestic service were allowed to go to their home – or “mother” – church.
The journey home morphed into a spring occasion for families to reunite, which eventually adopted the custom of children picking flowers on the way home as a gift to their mothers.
The date also became a celebration as the fasting rules of Lent were relaxed, earning the day the name of Refreshment Sunday, Simnel Sunday – after the simnel cakes traditionally baked on the day – and Pudding Pie Sunday to some.
How did Mothering Sunday become Mother’s Day?
Mother’s Day began in America in 1907.
Anna Jarvis, the daughter of a peace activist who treated wounded soldiers in the American Civil War, campaigned for a day to honour the role played by mothers.
The idea gained such traction that, by 1911, all US states took on the holiday, and it was declared a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.
Eventually, this tradition reached the UK, and Mothering Sunday became more popularly known as Mother’s Day.
Why is Mother’s Day celebrated at different times around the world?
Mother’s Day has become more secular and commercialised, and is now celebrated globally.
Some countries gave it a religious meaning – which has been gradually lost over the years.
In other countries, the date is based on seasons or times of the year.
Whilst Nigeria joins the UK and Ireland in celebrating mothers on the fourth Sunday of Lent, most countries around the world follow America’s lead in celebrating the holiday on the second Sunday in May, which this year is May 8.
Others still – including Russia, Vietnam and Afghanistan – mark the occasion on International Women’s Day on March 8.
In France the festivity is traditionally celebrated on the last Sunday of May but it is moved to the first Sunday of June if it coincides with Pentecost day,
When is Father’s Day 2022?
In the UK, Father’s Day 2022 falls on Sunday, June 19.
The celebration of fatherhood is always held on the third Sunday of June.
It is thought the festival may have originated in pagan sun worship, with some branches of the religion seeing the Sun as the father of the universe.