celebrated in rio de janeiro since the early 20th century, the official day was not established until the 1930s and subsequently added to the official catholic calendar by the cardinal-archbishop of rio de janeiro in the late 1940s - as with many other countries, flowers, chocolate, and candy are always good staple gifts and in brazil, mother's day is second only to christmas in commercialism.

june 12th is dia dos namorados (lovers' day) - celebrated similarly to february's 14th valentine's day in the northern hemisphere.

june 12th - valentine's/lover's/day of the enamored/boyfriends'/girlfriends' day (dia dos namorados) not to be confused with the valentine's day celebrated by the rest of the world on the 14th of february, is the celebration of saint anthony of padua.