at Saydnaya, the most frequented of their shrines after al-Qumama (the Church of the Holy Sepulcher) and Bethlehem, where the Messiah was born and where he was buried. This “icon of Lady Mary,” however, is nothing but a piece of palm-wood that has been soaked in oils until it became soft; the oil now seeps out, a man-made salve that people imagine to be a blessing issuing from the image.

Among their many stratagems is the “fire” that their common folk believe descends from heaven during their festival at the Sepulcher. More than one Muslim and Christian has witnessed the event firsthand and seen that it is an artificial flame by which they mislead the masses, who suppose it came down from the sky and seek blessing through it, whereas it is merely the handiwork of a trickster skilled in contrivance and deception.

Such ruses are legion among the Christians. In fact, every so-called marvel claimed by the Christians who have altered the religion of the Messiah is either a satanic phenomenon or a human fabrication.