Every August 15th, Mother’s Day is celebrated in Costa Rica, this commemoration in the country dates from the early 20th century and it is thanks to Evangelina Solís Salvatierra that this day began to be commemorated.
History tells that, in the first decades of the 20th century, at the beginning of the August holidays, a public act was held in schools all around the country, in which an “honor card” was given to the best students. And it was Evangelina Solís who considered that these recognitions should also be dedicated to mothers as an act of affection and gratitude for everything they do for all of us. This is how Costa Rica began to celebrate Mother’s Day, originally at the “Nicolás Ulloa de Heredia” School, and later decreed by the National Government to be carried out nationwide.
Relevant fact
It is important to know that it is from 1910 that Costa Rica, as well as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, began to recognize women for their motherhood role. But it is not until the 1920’s that the first festivities in honor of mothers began to develop, among those festivities were the “Feast of Mothers” organized in 1923 and the “Mother Honor Day” in 1927.
But it is officially in 1932 that it was decreed that on August 15th of each year, Mother’s Day would be celebrated in all schools, public institutions and in every Costa Rican home. The press of the time reported the celebration both at schools in cities and rural areas.
It is worth mentioning that this day coincides with the celebration of the Virgin Mary religious feast, who constitutes model motherhood within the Catholic religion, to which the vast majority of Costa Ricans belong.
Mothers as a symbol of security, protection, shelter, and tenderness
The symbolism of Mother’s Day can also be related to the “sea and the land”, as “receptacles of life”, as “matrices of life”, as “celestial bodies”, as a “symbol of fertility”. The Mother, as a symbol also means life, being born, coming to life.
Mother’s Day in Costa Rica is a non-working day by law, that is why from TCRN we invite you to pay tribute to your mother on her special day without having to leave your home. One of the ideas that we suggest is to prepare a delicious breakfast or lunch for her. You can also set up a video meeting for her with other distant family members, as to have a virtual celebration and share a pleasant moment in these difficult times due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. We are sure this will make for a beautiful Mother’s Day.
We share with all mothers a beautiful poem by the notable poet Gabriela Mistral:
Mother, mother, you kiss me
but I kiss you more,
and the swarm of my kisses
Does not even let you look …
If the bee enters the lily,
do not feel its flapping.
When you hide your little boy
you can’t even hear him breathe …
I look at you, I look at you
without getting tired of looking,
and what a cute child I see
look into your eyes …
The pond copies everything
what you are looking at;
but you have girls
Your son and nothing else.
The little eyes you gave me
I have to spend them
to follow you through the valleys,
by the sky and by the sea …
