La Festa della mamma (Mother’s Day) celebrates mothers as individuals, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and mothers’ influence—never too stressed—in society. In Italy, as in the US, it is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It will be on May 11 in 2025.
In Italy, it was first celebrated on 24 December 1933 as the Day of the Mother and the Child (Giornata della madre e del fanciullo). Its goal was purely propaganda: the Fascist Regime, then in place, wanted to reward the most prolific Italian women. After WWII, the celebration lost its political meaning and started to be celebrated as it is today, that is, to show love and appreciation.
Ideas for Mother’s Day projects
On Mother’s Day, you say Auguri mamma! Or Buona Festa della mamma! to your mother or motherly figure, you give her un biglietto (a card) and —most traditionally—un mazzo di fiori (a bunch of flowers), possibly pink, like roses, tulips, carnations, or potentillas, which appropriately symbolize the mother bond as well as and strength.
For this coming Mother’s Day, if you wanna go above and beyond, you can create your own card writing a poem… in Italian! After all, Italian is the language of love and your mother or motherly figure would certainly overlook a few mistakes!
There are no rules for poetry, but here are some guidelines to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the mission. Consider a haiku: a three-line Japanese poem formed by 17 syllables (5-7-5), unrhymed and often focusing on nature. If you need inspiration for vocab, see Pier Paolo Pasolini’s La ballata delle madri:
Mi domando che madri avete avuto.
Se ora vi vedessero al lavoro
in un mondo a loro sconosciuto,
presi in un giro mai compiuto
d’esperienze così diverse dalle loro,
che sguardo avrebbero negli occhi?
Se fossero lì, mentre voi scrivete
il vostro pezzo, conformisti e barocchi,
o lo passate, a redattori rotti
a ogni compromesso, capirebbero chi siete?
[…]
Madri servili, abituate da secoli
a chinare senza amore la testa,
a trasmettere al loro feto
l’antico, vergognoso segreto
d’accontentarsi dei resti della festa.
Madri servili, che vi hanno insegnato
come il servo può essere felice
odiando chi è, come lui, legato,
come può essere, tradendo, beato,
e sicuro, facendo ciò che non dice.
[…]
È così che vi appartiene questo mondo:
fatti fratelli nelle opposte passioni,
o le patrie nemiche, dal rifiuto profondo
a essere diversi: a rispondere
del selvaggio dolore di esser uomini.
If all of this feels too much, no worries: a card saying how much you love her—ti voglio bene, mamma!— would do, since that’s all she really wants to hear anyway!
By Claudia Quesito
Also read:
The Legendary nonni, aka Italian Grandparents
How Italians Celebrates San Giuseppe (Festa del Papà): Traditions, Food, and Customs
