DAMASCUS, Syria — This Christmas morning in Syria’s capital, Christians dressed in their finest clothes, attended church and participated in the annual parade through the ancient part of the city.

Elias Muscoby, an Arab Christian, standing next to a Christmas tree at the Christ Church coffee shop, Jerusalem Old City, December 24, 2024 (Gianluca Pacchiani/Times of Israel) ...

A Christmas tree in the courtyard of the YMCA in Gaza City in December 2021. After Hamas took over Gaza, Christians began observing holidays in the privacy of their homes and churches.

Rather than announce she was starting the season a few weeks early, she simply began to preach on Advent themes and asked the church musicians to hold back on Christmas music until closer to Dec. 25.

An installation of a scene of the Nativity of Christ with a figure symbolizing baby Jesus lying amid the rubble, in reference to Gaza, inside the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in the West ...

What is Advent? Advent is the start of the Christian church's liturgical year. It starts four weeks ahead of Christmas, which is usually the last Sunday in November of the first Sunday of December.

In Bethlehem, where many local Christians have relatives in Gaza, the Christmas holiday will be marked by prayers, church services and the annual procession of Christian patriarchs — but the ...

The Rev. Dave Urban of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Allison Park said Orthodox Christians prepare for Christmas 40 days ahead of time with a Nativity fast.

Any other year, Christmas festivities would be in full swing in the town of Jesus’ birth. The center of that party is Manger Square, the plaza outside the Church of the Nativity.

Yet not everyone embraced the spirit of Christmas. Puritans, or Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England, believed Christmas highlighted everything wrong with the church.

Arraf's views are felt by many Palestinian American Christians in Michigan who are scaling back on Christmas celebrations and donating money to help Palestinians instead of buying gifts.