Father’s Day

by Melissa

(3rd Sunday in June) Father’s Day, 3rd Sunday in June. The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington.  A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Having been raised by her father, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane on the 19th of June, 1910. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day (from http://www.marvelcreations.com/fathersday.html.

As honoring our ancestors is an important aspect of Hellenic observance, modern Hellenic worshippers will want to honor their father and male ancestors on this day.  Consider offering prayers to Zeus pater (father Zeus), Zeus Meilikhios (gentle Zeus) or Zeus Philios (loving Zeus).