It is a stumbling block for people who still need healing in their relationships with their parents. And it is a stumbling block to the gospel when we retreat simply into syrupy sentimentality on days such as this. Well, even if you're not, I'm going to tell you. This grew out of a Sunday School celebration of motherhood back in 1908, at the suggestion of Anne Jarvis in Philadelphia. But the etiology of Mother's day is much older than the 20th century.
Many ancient texts lift up mother-worship as a norm.
Cybele traversed the mountains in a chariot led by lions. 250 years before Jesus, the festival of Hilaria was held on the Ides of March in the Greco-Roman world. During this festival, people made offerings in the temple. With the advent of Christianity, like many pagan rites, this festival was appropriated and modified. Mother God became Mother Church.