Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut and its suburbs Archbishop Elias Audi presided over the Christmas Mass service at St. George's Cathedral in the presence of a crowd of believers.

He prayed for the whole world to realize that the message of the Lord's birth is a message of peace, humility, and love, and for all the world's leaders to be guided by this message, to stop the hatred, war, and destruction that are plaguing the world, especially the land of Christ's birth, Palestine, which our Lord chose to incarnate in, to grant His peace to all humanity.

"We also pray to be peacemakers, and for the Lord God to have mercy on our country, Lebanon, and its people, to rescue us from our plight, and to keep away from us all that leads to our fragmentation," he emphasized.

"We also ask Him to enlighten the hearts of the officials so that they may understand and work to prevent the spread of war to our country, whose children seek nothing but peace and a decent life in a state that nurtures its children with justice and fairness," Audi concluded.