Surrender Novena


 Whenever you feel anxious, fearful, or worried; when your plans seem to fail; if you wonder if God hears your prayers; when you are feeling small and vulnerable; when everything feels our of your control; when you sense the weight of the world on our shoulders - Surrender it all to Jesus and pray this novena. 

“For nothing will be impossible for God” Luke 1:37

 The Surrender Novena 

Day 1

Jesus to the soul: 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! (10 times)

Day 2

Jesus to the soul: 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 mothers 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! (10 times)

Day 3

Jesus to the soul: 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 close 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! (10 times)

Day 4

Jesus to the soul: Do 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! (10 times)

Day 5

Jesus to the soul: 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 mothers 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! (10 times)

Day 6

Jesus to the soul: You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worseto 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! (10 times)

Day 7

Jesus to the soul: 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 dont 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 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! (10 times)

Day 8

Jesus to the soul: 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! (10 times)

Day 9

Jesus to the soul: 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! (10 times)

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mother, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners and spread the effect of grace of thy flame of love over all humanity now and at the hour of our death. Amen

 

The Serenity Prayer

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

 

The Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, 
Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, 

others may increase and I may decrease, 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,

provided that I may become as holy as I should, 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

 

Childrens Winter Corner

 A Children's Winter Corner

It's such a delight to see my littles immersed in imaginative play in their toy corner. I set it up for the seasons,  or a current lesson theme. December's winter scene is for their peg dolls, characters, and woodland animals. I found mini candy canes, sparkly snowflakes and other little trinkets at Hobby Lobby. The wood mountains and trees are from Jo-Ann Fabrics, and the houses are from Ikea and Target. 


The featured book is >"All Around Bustletown: Winter" and is such a fascinating seek and find book series. Each page is filled with dozens of things to look at, and find from page to page. There are even a few nuns that make their way through the scenes.


You can tell your children are paying attention to the details of your traditions, when they mimic it with their own toys. I noticed my children moving their Little People Wise Men around the house throughout Advent and Christmas, just as I do with our own set. Make sure they have a >Nativity Set< that they can play with, hopefully leaving your fragile set alone. One year I painted a Holy Family Peg Doll set which they like in their winter playthings.


I also keep ziplocked bags of activities for the children to take up if they need something creative to do while they await my availability. I love the printable holiday playdough placemats you can find online, which are usually free to print then laminate for longevity. The children also enjoyed having a pile of >Plastic Mini Bulbs and Trinkets< as well as our cookie cutters to make playdough Christmas trees and other such things.


I'm not sure if the toddlers/preschoolers or I like the Sensory Bins more. I really enjoy finding things to add to it each season.  For winter,  we have a snowy seek and find bin.  
It contains crystals and gems for ice, tinsel pom poms, peppermints, glittery toys, bells, mini presents, mini snowmen, winter houses,  an ornament, woodland animals, arctic animalsholiday peg doll characters bought or homemade,  and more. Determine your items based on age,  so there are no choking hazards for littles. {Hover over and click item words for referral links.}
Top it off with snowy cotton balls! Then I add a bowl with grabbers and scoops for them to collect the items they find. 

We added a lot of >Jingly Bells< to the >Magnet Tile Set<, and they really love this addition to all their creations.

They look a little sad in the picture, but we really did enjoy making these >Crystal Chemi-Trees!<

It was fun to design coloring pages for The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary which we focus on in December and January. You can find these through >my post The Joyful Mysteries.<

Every once in awhile we sit down for a simple Tea Lunch. This one was held on Saint Andrew's Day when we begin the Christmas Novena. All ages seem to like this time to eat simply, use our table manners, take out special dishes, and just talk with each other or read a story aloud.

Children get antsy, and in the winter when the lights are on at night, why not have a holiday dance party!? 

There is nothing like getting out to build a great snowman, go sledding or skating,  or have a snowball fight. We like going on a walk through the snow at the park, in the quiet stillness if winter. My children also had such great fun bowling with snow on the patio table!


I hope some of these ideas spark interest for you and your children! 


SOME OF MY RECOMMENDATIONS 

CAN BE FOUND IN MY AMAZON SHOP

Look for the Advent - Christmas Folder

www.amazon.com/shop/homegrowncatholics

*Thank you for using my referral links, which won't cost you anything extra,  but will support me in creating more content for this blog.


Nearby, above their play kitchen, is a reminder of what our focus (candle) is this week. These cards came from Catholic Family Crate. The electric candles are vintage from my mother,  but can still be found online here. I say always find a way to integrate faith into their playtime if possible.