Surrender Novena: Full 9-Day Prayer and How to Pray It
The Surrender Novena is a 9-day Catholic prayer that asks Jesus to carry what you cannot manage on your own. If you came looking for the full prayer, you will find the day-by-day text below, the repeated surrender refrain, and a simple explanation of how Catholics usually pray it.
This devotion is associated with Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo and is often remembered by its repeated line, "O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!" Because readers usually want the exact words first, this page keeps the full 9-day structure upfront, then explains when people pray the novena and what it teaches about trust, surrender, and God's care. Different websites sometimes vary slightly in punctuation or capitalization, but the heart of the prayer stays the same.
What Is the Surrender Novena?
The Surrender Novena is a popular Catholic novena built around Jesus' invitation to stop clinging to fear and to entrust everything to Him. It is linked to Servant of God Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970), a Neapolitan priest known for suffering, humility, and deep trust in Christ. Many readers also know the devotion by the shorter phrase "Jesus, You take care of it."
A novena simply means a prayer prayed over nine consecutive days. In this case, each day includes a meditation about surrender, followed by the repeated prayer. If you want companion resources on this same theme, keep PrayersFor's pages on surrendering to God, trusting God, and Bible verses about surrendering to God nearby too.
How to Pray the Surrender Novena
- Bring one burden before Jesus. Many people pray this novena for anxiety, illness, family strain, discernment, or a situation they cannot control.
- Read the meditation for the day slowly. Let the words push you away from panic and back toward trust.
- Repeat the surrender prayer 10 times. The repeated line is part of the devotion, not an afterthought.
- Close with a short prayer to Mary if desired. Many versions end with the closing line included below.
- Continue for nine straight days. Some people pray for one specific intention the whole time, while others use the novena more generally as a school of surrender.
Some Catholics also pair this novena with the Rosary, or pray it during a Catholic devotional season when they want a stronger habit of trust.
When Do People Pray the Surrender Novena?
People usually turn to the Surrender Novena when they feel stuck between real need and limited control. That can mean illness, grief, financial fear, family tension, a major decision, or the kind of overthinking that keeps the mind restless. It is especially common in seasons of anxiety, peace-of-mind struggles, and discernment.
It is also a fitting prayer when someone knows the next step is to trust God's will more deeply instead of trying to force an outcome. That is why this novena pairs naturally with PrayersFor's pages on God's will and God's providence.
Full Surrender Novena Prayer
The classic English version below is the form most readers mean when they search for the Surrender Novena. Pray one day at a time for nine days.
The prayer to repeat each day
Repeat 10 times each day: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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."
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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, your worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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 whoever surrenders to God. So do not 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 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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
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.
Repeat 10 times: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
Optional closing prayer: Mother, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you, I always want to belong completely to Jesus.
What Does the Surrender Novena Teach?
The Surrender Novena does not teach passivity or denial. It teaches the difference between faithful action and controlling panic. The point is not that Christians stop caring about real problems. The point is that they stop treating worry as if it were the same thing as trust.
That is why this novena resonates so strongly with readers who are trying to rest in God's care without pretending life is easy. It belongs naturally beside PrayersFor's pages on trusting God, worry, and trusting God when you do not understand.
If your hardest battle right now is fear, mental noise, or the need to release outcomes you cannot manage, keep returning to the short refrain even after the nine days are over. Many Catholics use that one line as a daily breath prayer because it captures the entire devotion in a single act of trust.
