For the past several weeks, our “Women’s Circle of Faith and Friendship” has been reading the book, Wrapped Up – God’s Ten Gifts for Women. Drawing on both the deep wisdom of scripture and a savvy grasp of modern culture, Wrapped Up helps us to recognize these God-given gifts. Each week one of our ladies led a thoughtful, lively discussion on two of the chapters. I looked forward to our evening get-togethers; however, it was our closing session, that I could not get out of my mind. The overhead lights had been dimmed, allowing the glow of the candles that were placed on each of the tables to create a beautiful and peaceful ambiance. It was perfect for what we were about to listen to and pray. Thank you, Alma, for all that you orchestrated!
I had never heard of the Surrender Novena—the prayer from which these words were taken, but it captured my heart in the very first refrain.
Don Dolindo, servant of God, received from Jesus the words of the Surrender Novena. It seems to me that this prayer is timeless and is especially important now. Wars seem never ending, climate change is real, and people are suffering everywhere. Many things feel out of control, all the while as we are trying to grow in trust and abandonment to God’s providence.
“You see evil growing instead of weakening?” Jesus says in this prayer. “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.”
This prayer is also fitting when our own personal suffering is threatening to overwhelm us and steal our peace.
“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,” Jesus’ words in the prayer assure us.
The Surrender Novena can put you in the proper frame of mind to “take therefore no thought for the morrow” (Matt 6:34) from our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount in which He challenges us to seek Him first when worrying about our earthly needs.
*** If the Surrender Prayer is new to you, you may be asking yourself the following questions:
What does it mean to surrender to God?
Surrendering to God involves letting go of control and trusting in His plan for your life. It is about yielding your desires and fears to God’s will, which may include accepting unexpected changes and relying on His guidance.
How can I surrender control of my life to God?
Surrendering to God requires a conscience decision to release control over your life and rely on God’s wisdom and guidance. This can be done through prayer, Scripture study and acts of faith and service.
What are the benefits of surrendering to God?
The benefits of surrendering to God include experiencing peace, receiving God’s provision, and experiencing a deeper relationship with Him. Surrendering also allows for spiritual grown and transformation.
What challenges may I face when surrendering to God?
Challenges may include fear of the unknown, ego and pride, intellectual doubts and spiritual dryness. Overcoming these challenges requires humility, trust in God’s plan and a willingness to let go of control.
The Surrender Prayer reminds us that Jesus abandoned Himself completely to His Father’s will. I believe that the Surrender Novena gives us a way to follow Jesus in His total abandonment, and to let Him “take care of everything.”
The Surrender Novena – You may wish to print the prayer below before listening to the Novena, as it will direct you to another page.
(To listen to the novena with music click here)
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! (Say 10 times)
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! (say 10 times)
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 closes 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! (Say 10 times)
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! (Say 10 times)
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! (Say 10 times)
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! (Say 10 times)
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! (Say 10 times)
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! (Say 10 times)
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! (Say 10 times)
Closing prayer: Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo.
”Mother, I am yours now and forever.
Through you and with you
I always want to belong
completely to Jesus”.
