I must admit, despite the fact that I have five children who give me countless reasons to celebrate and thank God for the joy of being their mother, Mother's Day is not my favorite holiday. The commercial aspect of the day has diluted its meaning.

The advertisements for Mother's Day started weeks ago with the usual suggestions for gifts, many extremely expensive and out of the reach of most of us. There is a subtle message of guilt attached to the advertising; the more expensive the gift, the more you love Mom. Most of us see through such nonsense of the message, hopefully, but it can still be persuasive.

Mother's Day was not always this way. In researching its history (http://womenshistory.about.com), I was surprised to read that it originated in the United States as a means of inspiring people to think about peace.

In 1872, Julia Ward Howe --- abolitionist, suffragist and author of the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" --- wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation. She was adamantly opposed to war, having lived through the devastation of the Civil War, and she envisioned Mother's Day as a day for women to oppose any future wars both in the United States and throughout the world.

Howe's bold proclamation began with a call to women:

"Arise…women of the day! Arise…whether our baptism be that of water or of fears! Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience…We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure others…From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, Disarm! Disarm!"

Howe pleaded for women to come together:

"Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a…day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other…whereby the great human family can live in peace…"

Mother's Day for Peace was celebrated throughout the country for a number of years (some sources say as many as 30), but Howe died without gaining formal recognition for her vision of Mother's Day. After her death, Anna Jarvis, inspired by the work of her own mother in caring for soldiers and their families during the Civil War, was successful in her campaign for a national day of recognition for all mothers. In her later years, Jarvis distanced herself from the day she was instrumental in creating due to its commercialization.

We have come a long way since 1914 when Mother's Day was declared a national observance to take place on the second Sunday in May. We have the ability to visit every corner of the earth, giving us the opportunity to experience other cultures. Yet we still use war as a way to settle our differences. It does not seem we truly understand the meaning or the precious nature of life.

This Mother's Day it is appropriate to invoke the words of Julia Howe's proclamation and appeal to the hearts and minds of women --- all women, and certainly women of faith --- to pray for an end to the violence of war. United in prayer and action, mothers can make a difference in the world. We have Mothers Against Drunk Driving; maybe it is time for Mothers Against War, specifically this war in Iraq that will have more than 3,500 mothers will be mourning the loss of their precious children.

What can the rest of us mothers do about it? Carefully and prayerfully reading and re-reading the inspiring words of Julia Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation is a good place to start in returning the purpose of Mother's Day to its roots.

Anne Hansen is a parent education consultant and a parishioner at Blessed Junípero Serra Church, Camarillo. Her e-mail address is familymail@aol.com.