A mother’s love

A mother’s love

From Turn the Page by Turn the Page

March 12, 2026 · 1 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Anna Jarvis's campaign against the commercialization of Mother's Day and reflects on the theme of sacrificial love in motherhood and faith.

In 1943 Anna Jarvis campaigned to have Mother’s Day cancelled in America. This might not have been anything to note had she not been the person who had done so much to promote it in the first place. On 10 th May 1908 she held a memorial ceremony to celebrate motherhood in her church at Grafton, West Virginia, and by 1914 it had become established as a national holiday.  But over the years it became an opportunity to make money selling cards, flowers and chocolates and it was this that Anna railed against. She complained that ‘a printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to mother and then eat most of it yourself’.  Anna wanted children to think deeply about their mother’s sacrificial love. Perhaps in this she was inspired by her Christian faith and her belief in a God who had shown her so much sacrificial love. A God who sent his only son to die on a cross. In her eyes her mother’s love reflected the love of God and both demanded a heartfelt response. The post A mother’s love appeared first on Turn the Page .

People in this episode

Host: Turn the Page

Topics covered

  • Mother's Day
  • sacrificial love
  • Christian faith
  • commercialization of holidays
  • motherhood

Keywords

  • Mother's Day
  • Anna Jarvis
  • sacrificial love
  • Christianity
  • motherhood
  • commercialization
  • faith

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Mother’s Day

Places: America, Grafton, West Virginia

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