Surrender: Reflection and Novena

In a previous post I wrote about surrender. I also shared the Surrender Novena and invited my readers to join me in prayer.

As we begin a new calendar year, many people make “resolutions” for the year.

When I thought about this, I wondered:

What if we focus on a different type of goal this year?

What if we make a dedicated effort each day to surrender to God?

In order to do this, we must first understand what surrender is. Then, we must have a way to practice it.

Below is an updated and improved version of my original post, which includes the Surrender Novena at the end.

I hope you’ll read the reflection and pray the novena with me again, or for the first time

Reflection

Surrender usually refers to defeat and has a negative connotation in society.

However, in Christianity, surrender has an entirely different meaning. It’s actually what we’re meant to strive for in our relationship with God!

In a previous post I stated that we’re called to put our lives in the Lord’s hands and trust the plan He has for each of us.

Another word for this action is: surrender.

Our goal as Christians is to allow God to be in charge, trust that He’ll take care of us and not worry about anything.

It may seem that if we give ourselves to Him we’ll lose something, or everything.

But that’s a lie that the voices of the world tell us.

Jesus tells us the truth:

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

Jesus isn’t referring exclusively to those who will die for Him as martyrs. He’s referring to all Christians.

We’re each called to abandon ourselves wholly to our loving and merciful Lord.

When we do this, we become free from anxiety, discontent and the false notion that we have to take care of everything on our own.

We experience peace, joy and humility. We become fully alive and who we’re meant to be as children of God.

For some of us, abandoning ourselves to the Lord may be easier said than done!

Thankfully, He shows us how to do this in numerous ways; and I’ll share one way at the end of this post.

Model

Someone who completely abandoned himself to God was Father Dolindo Ruotolo.

Father Don Dolindo Ruotolo was a Neapolitan priest (1882-1970), stigmatized miracle worker and “mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit.”

Father Ruotolo had extraordinary communications with Jesus throughout his heroic life, a life that was totally devoted to God and Holy Mother Mary. He referred to himself as “the Madonna’s little old man” and the Rosary was his constant companion.

On November 19, 1970 Don (Fr) Dolindo Ruotolo died at the age of 88. Padre Pio once said of this priest from Naples, Italy, “The whole of paradise is in your soul.” His name, Dolindo, means Pain and his life was rich with this pain. As a child, a teenager, a seminarian and a priest, he experienced humiliation, which was the realization of the prophetic words of a bishop who said, “You will be a martyr, but in your heart, not with your blood.”

In his profound humility, he was able to hear the words of God. Even with his hidden life he was one of the greatest prophets of the last century. He wrote to Bishop Hnilica in 1965 that a new John will rise out of Poland with heroic steps to break the chains beyond the boundaries imposed by the communist tyranny. On this postcard, he wrote words of consolation for Poland and all the countries suffering under the communist regime. This prophecy was realized in the papacy of John Paul II.

In his tremendous suffering, Dolindo became more and more a child who lived his self-offering to the Divine Father. “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.” (Full of Grace USA)

Statue from the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage, Rome. Photo from my parents

Prayer

Throughout Fr. Dolindo’s life, Jesus revealed important messages to him.

One such revelation was a prayer known as the Surrender Novena.

For those who aren’t aware, a novena is a prayer said for nine consecutive days for a specific purpose.

I’d like to invite you to pray this novena with me from: Sunday, January 12 to Monday, January 20.

(We’ll begin that day because it’s the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which ends the Christmas season and begins Ordinary Time.)

This novena is meant to teach us to surrender to God and turn to Him for everything.

The text and prayer for each day are below.

A printable version is also available here.

For the first day, read the text for Day 1 and recite the prayer stated. For the second day, read the text for Day 2 and recite the prayer stated. Continue this method each day for nine days…

If you read this after January 12th or forget to begin, you can begin any date you choose.

Just be sure to pray for nine consecutive days and follow the format and prayers given.

Most importantly, let’s keep our hearts and minds open to the Lord.

I hope you’ll join me in prayer!

Surrender Novena

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.