Mothers are the unsung heroes of the world. Every day they sacrifice their time and devote their love to the children they brought into the world.

What mother doesn't hope to be celebrated and pampered, if just for a bit, by her children in recognition for all that she had done for them? That is why every year on the second Sunday of May children pay homage to their moms on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day hasn't always been a standard spring holiday. In fact, mothers went officially uncelebrated for years and years. It wasn't until the 20th century that an official holiday was established to honor mothers, grandmothers and the other special women in people's lives.

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the mother of the Gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday," on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40-day period leading up to Easter). "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England.

During this time, many of England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants lived at the houses of their employers.

On Mothering Sunday, servants had the day off and were encouraged to return home to spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church" — the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time, the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.

In the United States, Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") as a day dedicated to peace. Howe organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston every year.

But it was Anna Jarvis who made great strides toward establishing a national holiday for mothers.

Jarvis held annual gatherings called "Mother's Friendship Day" with an objective to heal the pain of the victims and those affected by the Civil War. After her own mother died in 1905, Jarvis decided a national celebration of mothers was in order, and began to campaign for such a holiday.

Jarvis began by soliciting the pastor at the church where her mother had taught Sunday school classes to hold a special commemorative service.

The church obliged, and the first Mother's Day celebration took place on May 10, 1908, at Andrew's Methodist Church. Later that day, Jarvis celebrated Mother's Day again with her brother at her home in Philadelphia.

The Mother's Day idea eventually caught on, and President Woodrow Wilson made it official in 1914 that the second Sunday in May would be celebrated as Mother's Day annually.

Since then, families have gathered together annually to give thanks to the special women who have helped shape their lives.

While many countries celebrate their own Mother's Days at different times throughout the year, some countries, like Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium, also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

Anna Jarvis