Latest

Let Jesus Take Care of Everything with the Surrender Novena

Sep 13, 2021 by Cheryl Hadley

"O' Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything!"

This simple and beautiful prayer spoke to me so powerfully the first time I saw the novena pamphlet here at The Catholic Company. I had never heard of Don Delindo Ruotolo, the Neapolitan priest to whom Jesus gave the novena prayer. I had never seen the prayer or the prayer beads, but who doesn't love a good novena? I found this one so moving and compelling in its simplicity, intimacy, and trust.

Who Was Don Dolindo Ruotolo?

Servant of God Don Dolindo Ruotolo was an Italian Franciscan priest and miracle worker who lived from 1882-1970. He was a fellow Franciscan and contemporary of St. Padre Pio

[[4639, 31912]]

While some referred to him as a mouth-piece of the Holy Spirit for his remarkable communications with Jesus during his lifetime, he called himself the Madonna's little old man, and he kept her rosary as his constant companion. He offered his life, which entailed great suffering, as a victim soul.

His name, "Dolindo," means pain, and he embraced this constant companion too, for God for and souls. Fr. Ruotolo chose a life of such poverty and austerity that his own family abandoned him, embarrassed by the holy priest. He received the sick, frail, and contagious with an open heart and open arms, caring for them and suffering for them.

He would sit with sick people wracked with pain and when he placed his cloak around them, their pain would disappear. Because of his goodness and faith in God, he was able to heal those even far from him with his prayers. It was said that his sufferings did not eliminate joy, but rather increased it.

Like Padre Pio, he was exiled in solitude as Christ was alone on Calvary. Both were removed for a time from public ministry, prohibited from celebrating mass, and reduced to the recitation of scripture and Psalms, imploring and declaring the triumph of God from the depths of their holy souls.

A Hidden Life

In this state of profound humility, Don Dolindo was able to hear the words of God and be consoled by extraordinary communications with Jesus. His life was hidden in suffering and pain, but his heart was hidden in Christ.

This Servant of God also had the gift of prophecy. In in 1965, he wrote an extraordinary message to Bishop Pavol Hnilica of Slovakia, who lived through the terrors of World War I and II, and was secretly ordained during that time.

"A new John will arise out of Poland to break the chains of communist tyranny..."

That prophetic postcard was a consolation to Bp. Hnilica, and the prophecy was later realized through the election of Pope St. John Paul II.

In the last ten years of his life, Fr. Ruotolo was completely paralyzed, but suffered his humiliations joyfully for the will and glory of God and salvation of souls. With his self-offering to the Father, Don Delindo became more childlike and trusting, giving all things to the Lord.

He said of himself,

"I am totally poor. A poor nothing. My strength is my prayer, my leader is the will of God which I let take me by the hand. My security over the uneven path is the heavenly mother Mary."

Jesus Gives the Surrender Novena

The Surrender Novena Fr. Ruotolo received from Jesus is a treasured prayer well loved by those devoted to its power. The Lord taught Father to abandon himself completely to Him and trust in His power and love. The novena was one gift in their extraordinary communication. As Jesus taught St. Faustina how souls should abandon themselves to His mercy, he taught Fr. Ruotolo how souls should abandon themselves completely to His providence.

This novena of abandonment is a timeless prayer particularly relevant today, as we struggle with so many uncertainties and sufferings in our world. Jesus told Fr. Ruotolo that there was no novena more powerful than this. Because He knew the struggle in the hearts of mankind to surrender completely to His will, He spoke to Don Delindo plainly and lovingly, as His apostle of surrender.

Taught by Christ

Jesus said to Fr. Ruotolo,

“You see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: ‘Thy will be done, You take care of it.’ I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor, and I will accomplish miracles when they are needed.”

When I happened upon the novena, the words of Christ moved my heart as he said to Don Dolindo,

“Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise you by my love that if you say, ‘You take care of it,’ I will take care of it.”

How comforting these promises of Jesus have been to me in uncertain times and amidst personal agonies. That He promises us something "by His love" is so consoling. So very certain.

[[17319, 17879]]

Just as Christ abandoned Himself completely to the will of His Father, He gives us example and instruction to do the same. We can follow Him in abandonment and trust, with the Surrender Novena to guide us. It is easy and intimate. It is beautiful and powerful. Most importantly, it is the truth in a form that is so consoling and relatable when we struggle to trust God in our sufferings.

It has become a favorite prayer of mine. When anything threatens to steal your peace, try abandoning yourself to Jesus with this Novena of Surrender, and let him take care of everything. Here is the prayer, including the words of Jesus to Don Dolindo for each day of the novena.

The Holy Trinity by Peter Paul Rubens