DAMASCUS, Dec. 23 -- The long-standing Syrian crisis has deprived Christmas's glamour in Damascus for the third consecutive year, particularly in recent days when a considerable number of Syrian Christians are suffering the pain of war and displacement.

Caring less about Santa Claus's gifts on the Christmas Day, the Syrian Christians are now more concerned about their livelihood as the nearly three-year-old conflict has battered all aspects of Syrian people's life and recently takes a swipe at the Christian- dominated areas.

"We don't have festivity in this Christmas because of the death of large numbers of martyrs and our deep grieve over those who had lost their lives," Mary Azar, a 25-year-old Syrian Christian said while standing in a decorated Christmas cave filled with photos of some Syrian martyrs instead of statues that depict the birth of Jesus Christ.

"This Christmas, we want to do something to honor the spirits of the martyrs and we call it the cave of Syria, because the Christ was born in a cave and we believe that Syria will be reborn from a cave filled with photos of the martyrs," she told Xinhua.

Ahead of the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, streets of the Christian-dominated districts of Damascus used to be decorated with eye-catching, glowing decorations that attract most of the Damascus citizens to enjoy the view in the districts of Bab Touma, Qassa and Bab Sharqi.

Seeing a Muslim woman walking into a church with her husband and kids in Damascus during the celebration isn't weird as almost all Syrians with different sects and beliefs used to share the same festival glamour. However, in this Christmas, along with the no-decoration theme, the churches would be confined to prayers only.

The streets now look cold and cheerless at a time when the glittering accessories should be decorated everywhere. Some decoration shops are still open and offer guests Christmas trees and accessories for those desired to have small celebrations in their homes.

"Of course, there will be no outdoor-celebration this year like Christmas trees. We will hold the usual prayer surely not during the evening out of security concerns." Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of the Church of Antioch and all East, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"But we will try our best to instill joy into the hearts of our children during Christmas by gathering gifts for them at home, and we must maintain an inner-joy atmosphere so that we could have hope, confidence and strong faith. May God make this Christmas a festivity of peace and hope and a better year in 2014, when we could have a real peace in our country and for all the Syrian people with all of their sects and religions," the top patriarch said.

Following his remarks, Laham heads for a ceremony where gifts and money are distributed to the sons of the displaced Christians, those who have to leave their homes when the al-Qaida-linked groups recently stormed the town of Maloula north of Damascus and reportedly desecrated churches and religious icons.

Laham says that the long-term crisis has displaced more than 450,000 Syrian Christians, killed more than 1,000 of them, and destroyed more than 85 churches.

"The crisis has tragically targeted all Syrians with all of their sects," he says.

Syria's Christians, accounting for 10 percent of the country's Sunni-dominated population, show unwavering support to the embattled President Bashar al-Assad due to fears that a regime change could deprive them of protection Assad has long ensured for them.