The ancient origins of the Roman Catholic church
http://www.truthbeknown.com/mithra.htm
Roman soldiers worshipped Mithras, born of the Virgin Mother of God. So when the Jewish followers of Christ showed that their religion was becoming more and more popular, the lead soldier, a guy called Imperator Constantinus, got some Mithraic priests to dress their religion up a bit so they could get in front of the wave and lead it.
According to Persian mythology, Mithras was born of a virgin given the title "Mother of God."
The Parthian princes of Armenia were all priests of Mithras, and an entire district of this land was dedicated to the Virgin Mother Anahita. Many Mithraeums, or Mithraic temples, were built in Armenia, which remained one of the last strongholds of Mithraism. The largest near-eastern Mithraeum was built in western Persia at Kangavar, dedicated to "Anahita, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithras."
Oh, by the way, Persia or Parthia is nowadays called Iran.
Funny how that works, isn't it?