The Surrender Novena by Father Dolindo Ruotolo
Recently I was gently introduced to The Surrender Novena by Father Dolindo Ruotolo. When I start reading it I ended up praying it! It is simple, profound and gives enermous sense of security too because we become attached to Jesus!
The power of this great novena is to be found within the very same words of Jesus himself who said to Don Donildo: Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations. (…) A thousand prayers do not equal one act of abandonment; don’t ever forget it. There is no better novena than this: O Jesus, I abandon myself to you. Jesus, you take over.
This novena taught me a lot of things. First, to worry is to confuse myself. By leaving everything in Jesus’ hands he will fill everything by his peace. In Day 1, Jesus gives us this promise: I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations. Jesus, help me to act in truth, blind, and complete surrender to you! O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)
In Day 2, surrender does not mean to fret, to be upset, to loose hope, to offer Jesus a worried prayer asking him to follow me and change my worry into prayer, to worry, to be nervous and to wanting to think about the consequences of everything. If I call my mother to help me to fulfil my needs how can I take those needs in my hands? As the Novena teaches me: Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act, saying “You take care of it”. Hence, O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)
Day three, brings to my attention the fact that surrender is certainly not praying to Jesus to act the way I want. Jesus says it in the Novena: You do not turn to me, instead, you want me to adapt your ideas. You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to. Then Our Lord gives this excellent advice: So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the our Father:”Hallowed be thy Name”, that is, be glorified in my need. Remembering of course, that Jesus does many things when the soul, fully in need of many spiritual and material needs, wisely turns to Jesus and says to Our Lord: “You take care of it”, then closes it’s eyes and rests.
In this way, ‘Thy kingdom come’ be fulfilled when all whatever lives within us and around us becomes one with God’s kingdom. And when we pray: “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”, we are asking the Father to decide according to his standards both for our earthly and heavenly life. When we say ‘Thy will be done’, we are saying: ‘You take care of it’. The result is the following according to Jesus: I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations. Hence, O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times).
Fourthly, Day four of the Novena reminds me that when evil gets stronger I need not worry. On the contrary, and as Jesus tells me: Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it”. In fact, Jesus says that He will take care of it much on the same lines as does a doctor. Jesus promises: I will accomplish miracles when they are needed. Jesus talks about people in sickness. He says: Do you see that the sick person is getting worse? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say “You take care of it”. I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. His very same love is the guarantee for this. Hence: O Jesus, I surrendered myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times).
The fifth Day reminds us that God might have a different path than ours. However the case, He prepares us for it. He will carry us in his arms. Then Jesus tells us: I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. Jesus enlists our reason, thoughts, worries and our desire which cause us so much trouble and hurt. These increase not decrease our afflictions. Thus, O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times).
Day six mentions another common factor when worries and stress creeps in: sleeplessness. For Jesus sleeplessness comes because you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse – to men themselves, trusting in their intervention, – this is what hinders my words and my views. It is Satan’s intention to agitate us and removes from us Jesus protection and then mercilessly throws us into the jaws of human initiative. That is why Jesus reminds us once more: Trust only in me, rest in me, surrender to me in everything. Hence, O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times).
With Day 7 an important standard comes in: our surrender determines the proportion of the miracles we receive. I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves... He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don’t think about it any more, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this all of you and you will see great continual silent miracles. Hence, O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times).
Day 8 presents to us a very important piece of advise by Jesus: Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Jesus insists: 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 all; I will console you, liberate you and guide you. What else do we to say rather than praying with faith: O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times).
In the ninth and last Day, prayer always prepares us to surrender. And, the moment we do surrender we shall be receiving great peace and great rewards. When encountering suffering you and me are called by Jesus to Close your eyes and say with all your soul, “Jesus, you take care of it”. Jesus then says: Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself. And then adds solemnly and gives his reassurance regarding this powerful novena: A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender, remember this well. There is no novena more effective than this. Thus, we pray: O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!
In each day we are reminded that when we submit to Jesus we are also submitting ourselves to Mary, now and forever. Mary is the one who helps us belong always to Jesus!
In case you might pray this most powerful novena entitled The Surrender Novena here is its text:
Day 1
Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 2
Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous, and to desire to think about the consequences of anything. It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way. Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care so that only I act, saying, You take care of it
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 3
How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me, and says to me; You take care of it, then close its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to me; instead, you want me to adapt to your ideas. You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to. So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the Our Father: Hallowed be thy Name, that is, be glorified in my need. Thy kingdom come, that is, let all that is in us and in the world be in accord with your kingdom. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven, that is, in our need, decide as you see fit for our temporal and eternal life. If you say to me truly, Thy will be done, which is the same as saying, You take care of it, I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 4
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. Do you see that the sick person is getting worse? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say, You take care of it. I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. By my love, I promise this to you.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 5
And when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts and worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 6
You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse – to men themselves, trusting in their intervention – this is what hinders my words and my views. Oh, how much I wish from you this surrender, to help you and how I suffer when I see you so agitated! Satan tries to do exactly this: to agitate you and to remove you from my protection and to throw you into the jaws of human initiative. So, trust only in me, rest in me, surrender to me in everything.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x).
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 7
I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don’t think about it anymore, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this all of you and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 8
Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. 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 all; I will console you, liberate you and guide you.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x).
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Day 9
Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance, and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you? Close your eyes and say with all your soul, Jesus, you take care of it. Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself. A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender, remember this well. There is no novena more effective than this:
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10x)
Mother Mary, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
