Surrender Novena

History of Surrender Novena

Father Don Dolindo Ruotolo was a Neapolitan priest (1882-1970), stigmatized miracle worker and “mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit”. 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, Fr. Dolindo was able to hear the words of God. Even with his hidden life he was one of the greatest prophets of the last century and in 1965, he wrote to Bishop Hnilica 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, Fr. 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.
One of the treasures from the words which Jesus spoke to Fr. Dolindo was the teaching about total abandonment to God. In this novena, Jesus is talking to Don Dolindo and also to you.

- EWTN Religious Catalogue