I learned about this new Easter tradition from Emily Belle Freeman. It’s the Immanuel Wreath. She does it for both Christmas and Easter. You can go here on my blog to read about it for Christmas.

You can use it as an advent for Christmas or Easter. Every night you read one of the cards, starting with card 1. Each card has a section from The Living Christ proclamation, with three names of Christ, used in the text of the proclamation. You light a candle and talk about how you see Christ in your life in that role, for example, as “Creator,” “Messiah,” or “Jehovah.”

It’s totally OK if you missed counting down on Palm Sunday. Just start soon and double up on a few days. The Easter Police will not get you. 🙂

You can get the free download of the names of Christ for Easter that Emily created over here.

I don’t have the official Immanuel Wreath yet, so I came up with this easy DIY version. Here are my super-easy instructions:

1. Get a platter. If you don’t have one lying around, check a thrift store.
2. Get 9 candles and place one in the center and 8 around the perimeter. I have a real one in the picture above and then all the white ones are fake, battery-operated ones from the dollar store.
3. Print the cards from Emily from here. If you don’t have much table space, cut the cards and glue the numbered part on the back of the text. Put the cards around the outside rim of the platter.

Every day, read one of the cards, including the names of Christ for that day. Talk about how Christ shows up in your lives with those names. Then light the candle, plus any from the day(s) before, and bask in the light of Christ. Read aloud a story or two relating from Easter, that you can find from the Easter section of my Celestial Family Devotionals ebook, over here. You can get the complete Devotionals ebook for free over here.