Count Down to Christmas with a Works of Mercy Chain

Happy New (Liturgical) Year!

If life has thrown you some unexpected curve balls lately and you feel as unprepared for Advent this year as I do, perhaps the simple freebie I am offering today can help.

Let Our 2023 Advent Chain Help Your Family Live the Works of Mercy This Advent

We just took the first link down from our annual Advent chain tonight, so I thought I would share the Advent Chain printable we made for it here in case you're looking for some quick inspiration for an easy way to count down to Christmas while keeping your family's hearts focused on sharing Christ's love through Works of Mercy.

To use the printable as we do, just print the document out. Then, color or paint all of the backsides of the strips violet, except for the final one that says "Celebrate! Christ has come!" which is the Christmas strip and left white. (Alternately, print on purple paper.)

After that, cut the pages into strips and use tape or staples to make a looped paper chain. 

Hang the chain up and - viola! - you and yours are ready to count down to Christmas while focusing on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Alternatively, you could browse the document for ideas for making a count-down chain tailored to your family or put the strips out with a Giving Manger  (which I reviewed previously) or homemade Sacrifice Manger (like the one pictured in 6 Things to Do Before Christmas).

Know You're Not Alone If You're Just Starting to get Ready for Advent Even If Advent Has Already Begun

And if you don't have an Advent Wreath set out next to Advent reading, Jesse Ornaments ready to go, or any of your personal Advent traditions rolling out yet, take heart! You are not alone.

Until tonight, the only thing we had out was a St. Andrew Christmas Novena Prayer Rebus Bookmark that we made years ago and just happened to find yesterday when cleaning, and currently, besides the addition of our annual Advent Chain, that remains true.

For you see, last week that old saying that life is what happens when you're making other plans became a reality here again.

A week ago today, I had plans to be well-prepared for Advent by last night. As a part of my plans, since family has been making paper Advent chains in order to count down to Christmas for years now, I had asked my youngest child to start listing Works of Mercy ideas that he would like us to include in our 2023 chain in his binder so that we might make them into a chain later in the week.

Then, the week happened and with it came a major car repair, a printer issue, a plumbing issue, an urgent care visit, an internet outage, another car repair, a roof replacement, and more.

Yes. All of this. In one week. 

So, before I knew it, Advent was upon us, and, instead of being prepared and starting Advent with morning Mass and traditions, my husband and I decided to celebrate the onset of Advent by giving everyone in our household the gift of waking up naturally and going to a noon Mass.

On the way to and from Mass, we prayed the Rosary, and - having been prompted by the aforementioned Christmas Novena bookmark that reappeared yesterday - we caught up on our Novena, too.

Then, the first day of Advent unfolded for us, without many of our New (Liturgical) Year except for praying the Christmas Novena and getting our simple Advent Chain ready.

And that's okay. Totally okay. 

Christ did not come to us in the manger because we were perfect. He does not come to us in the Eucharist because we are perfect. And He won't be coming to us again because of our earthly perfection.

In fact, Christ comes to us in our mess and our brokenness. He meets where we are at. He loves us. He gives us so much grace and mercy and asks us simply to love Him and let Him save us.

That's incredible. That's what this season is about: waiting in joyful anticipation for Christ's coming. 

The only thing we really need to journey well through Advent is a heart, mind, and soul turned toward Christ, awaiting Him.  

I'd love to hear how you're doing this Advent. If you have prayer intentions you would like others and me to pray for, please feel free to leave them in a comment. If you want to share some of your own family's traditions for journeying through Advent, feel free to share that, too. 

May God bless you with a joyful Advent.