Just a few meters from where mass was celebrated, thousands of pilgrims visited the ancient grotto where according to Christian tradition, Jesus was born.
VOA: standard.2009.12.25
In Damascus, a ChristianMass marked the day at the Mariamite Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Syria's SANA state news agency reported.
It was a force at once inspiring and terrible, a faith with no resemblance to the Christian belief in Mass and sacraments, hellfire and damnation, sin and redemption, penance and forgiveness.
In 1994, two wired mortar bombs planted near the altar blew up during Mass at a Christian Maronite church in Lebanon, killing 10 worshippers and wounding 60.