In many countries around the world, including India, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May, as a day for honoring mothers. Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece, which were organized in the honor of Rhea, the wife of Cronus and the Mother of the Gods and Goddesses. In Rome, the celebration of this day was dedicated to Cybele, another Mother Goddess; with the ceremony in her honor beginning somewhere around 250 years before Christ was born.
The Roman celebration was known as Hilaria and it lasted for three days, at a stretch. According to another belief, the ceremonies in honor of Cybele were adopted by the early church to venerate the Mother of Christ, Mary. It is also believed that the Mother Church was substituted for Mother Goddess and custom of people visiting the church of his/her baptism, on the day, came into being. People used to attend the mother church of their parish, laden with offerings. |
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