The Surrender Novena
(Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo)

Servant of God Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970) was a Franciscan priest who was born and lived in Naples, Italy. Ordained at the young age of 23, Fr. Dolindo dedicated every moment of his long life to prayer and penance at the service of thousands of faithful who asked for his spiritual direction and turned to him for help and comfort. He offered himself as a victim soul for mankind, and was richly blessed by God, to include prophecies, miracles and conversations with Jesus. In fact, his contemporary Franciscan, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, once said to a group of pilgrims from Naples: “Why do you come here, if you have Don Dolindo in Naples? Go to him, he’s a saint!” St. Pio also once told Fr. Dolindo that the “whole of paradise is in your soul.”
Fr. Dolindo is perhaps best known today for the Surrender Novena based on words that Jesus gave him, and the Rosary of Abandonment. As Jesus once said to him: “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.”
Day 1
Jesus to the soul: 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 2
Jesus to the soul: 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.”
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 3
Jesus to the soul: 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 4
Jesus to the soul: Do 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 5
Jesus to the soul: 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 mothers’ 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 6
Jesus to the soul: 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 7
Jesus to the soul: 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 8
Jesus to the soul: 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Day 9
Jesus to the soul: 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.
Say 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Rosary of Abandonment
God, come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me.
Glory be…
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
1st Decade: (10 times on the small beads)
Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything.
Glory be…
2nd Decade: (10 times on the small beads)
Mother Mary, I place myself in your hands, guide me to your son Jesus.
Glory be…
3rd Decade: (10 times on the small beads)
Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything.
Glory be…
4th Decade: (10 times on the small beads)
Mother Mary, I place myself in your hands, guide me to your son Jesus.
Glory be…
5th Decade: (10 times on the small beads)
Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything.
Glory be…
In conclusion:
Hail Holy Queen…