Today, Monday, July 26, Grandparents’ Day is celebrated, a special day for each grandson and granddaughter to spend time with their grandparents or congratulate them with a special message , but do you know what the origin of this celebration is? Why is Grandparents’ Day commemorated on this date?
Grandparents Day 2021: Origin and why it is celebrated on July 26
Grandparents’ Day is a relatively recent day if we compare it with the celebration of other special days. Perhaps that is why few people know what its origin is or why it was established.
It was in 1998 when the NGO Messengers of Peace, founded by Father Ángel , promoted the celebration of a day dedicated to grandparents. A year earlier, some countries had already begun to celebrate a day dedicated to the figure of grandmothers, but this time the idea was to celebrate a day dedicated to grandparents and also grandmothers.
But what was the reason for choosing the date of July 26? Well, the fact that this is the day in which San Joaquín and Santa Ana are commemorated, who are the parents of the Virgin Mary and therefore maternal grandparents of Jesus.
On the other hand, last January Pope Francis also established that every fourth Sunday in July , that is, yesterday July 25, the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly would be celebrated, given the proximity to the celebration of Saints Joaquín and Ana, so that from this year we have two days dedicated to grandparents in the same month of July.
Is Grandparent’s Day also celebrated in other countries around the world?
Grandparents’ Day is not a day that is only celebrated in Spain . Many other countries in the world commemorate grandparents and grandmothers, although the dates vary according to each country.
Thus, in France and the United Kingdom , Grandparents’ Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in October , while in Germany it is celebrated on the second Sunday in October , in Italy on October 2, and in Australia on the last Sunday in October.
In the United States and Canada it is commemorated the first Sunday in September , but in Brazil they coincide with us and also celebrate it on July 26.
In Mexico it is celebrated on August 28 and in Singapore on the fourth Sunday of November.
“Tell them you love them”, the motto for Grandparents Day 2021
Today is then an important date for the grandchildren to visit their grandparents or in fact, spend a special day in the event that they are on vacation together in addition to telling them how much they love them. In fact, “Tell them you love them” is the motto that Messengers of Peace has chosen for Grandparents’ Day 2021 after a hard year of pandemic, as well as being a day that also serves to honor all those grandparents and grandmothers who died for the Covid-19.
