The Rosary Miracle and the Surrender Novena
Friday, June 10, 2022
In the evening, I call my friend M. to chat. While we’re talking, I fiddle with my silver-colored combat rosary, like I always do. My gaze falls onto the chain, and I gasp in shock.
All the links of the first decade—that’s the first ten Hail Mary beads—have turned from silver to gold!
M. keeps talking, but I’m not paying attention. My mind is racing.
Impossible.
I’m sputtering and stammering, trying to explain to M. what just happened.
This is the rosary I always have on me, in my purse, in my pants or skirt pocket, next to me on my desk when I work, and next to my pillow when I sleep. It never leaves my sight. I would have noticed if the links were gradually turning color. And why just the links and not the beads?
I’ve heard of this phenomenon, specifically from people who’ve taken pilgrimages to Medjugorje, the Bosnian site of Marian apparitions. Many report that the links of their rosaries turned to gold.
But I’m not in Medjugorje. So what is this supposed to tell me? And why just the links in the first decade and not all the links?
It occurs to me that I’ve recently used the first ten beads to pray the Surrender Novena every day.
The Surrender Novena is a beautiful nine-day prayer that was given by Jesus himself to Don Dolindo Ruotolo, the spiritual director of St. Padre Pio.
Maura Roan McKeegan writes in her article on the Surrender Novena that Padre Pio called Don Dolindo a saint and said that the whole of Paradise was in his soul.
From the article:
Don Dolindo called himself “Mary’s little old man.” He lived in such great poverty that his own family turned away from him. He opened his arms without fear to embrace contagious sick people, caressing and kissing them. He offered himself as a victim soul for mankind, and was afflicted with many sufferings, including complete paralysis for the last ten years of his life. But he suffered with joy, because he suffered for love.
He also had the gift of prophecy, writing to Bishop Huilica 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.” This prophecy was realized in Pope John Paul II.
Many miracles have been attributed to Don Dolindo’s intercession, both before and after his death.
Don Dolindo received from Jesus the words of Surrender Novena. It is a prayer that is especially timely now, when world events feel out of control, and we are trying to grow in trust and abandonment to God’s providence.
I’ve been praying the Surrender Novena daily for a few months now. What makes it so special is that it’s written in the first-person voice of Jesus. That means he’s directly talking to you the reader. You respond to each of the daily readings with a short prayer that you repeat ten times: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything.”
I’ve found that for me as a natural control freak, this novena is like balm for my nerves. Chicken soup for my soul, if you will. I can get very anxious if I feel that things slip out of my control, and I panic easily. Now, I’m by no means completely cured of that flaw, but I’ve been sensing a clear difference. The Surrender Novena has worked wonders for me in letting go and letting God. I’ve been praying it every day.
You can find the full text at the end of Maura’s article. Or you can listen to the Surrender Novena on the Hallow app—a very special treat since you can choose to have it read in the voice of Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus in the hit series, The Chosen. Jesus talking to you in “Jesus’s voice”—it doesn’t get any more realistic than that!
I love my transformed Rosary. What an immense and surprising gift, Jesus. Thank you so much.