Don Dolindo Ruotolo: life and prayer and quotations
\;_Don Dolindo Ruotolo was a Neapolitan priest who straddled the 19th and 20th centuries. A very popular contemporary of Padre Pio (who considered him a saint), he was also mistreated by the Church before being rehabilitated. Today, his beatification process is underway.
Don Dolindo teaches us a beautiful prayer to overcome anguish.
Don Dolindo's biography
Dolindo was born into a well-to-do family in Naples, southern Italy, on October 6, 1882. His father was an engineer and his mother a Neapolitan noblewoman. However, Dolindo and his brother did not have a happy childhood: their father was negligent, and the children did not get enough to eat. In 1886, Dolindo's parents separated and their children were sent to boarding school in a religious congregation.
Dolindo soon expressed his desire to become a priest. In 1905, he was ordained a priest and joined the Capuchins, an order that follows the Franciscan rule.
Don Dolindo soon became a confidant of Jesus. He is said to have received numerous mystical graces. For this, the Church condemned him for heresy. After a lengthy interrogation by the Holy Office, Don Dolindo's priestly ministry was suspended just two years after his ordination. The year was 1907, and Dolindo was 25 years old.
He patiently and courageously accepted the Church's condemnation.
He was fully rehabilitated in 1939 and appointed parish priest of a church in Naples. He kept up a correspondence with Padre Pio, who considered him a saint.
In 1960, he suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed. He continued his pastoral work as best he could, and died on November 19, 1970.
It is possible to visit his tomb in the church of San Giuseppe dei Vecchi.
Don Dolindo's prayer of abandonment
"Jesus said to the souls : "Why are you so agitated? Entrust your problems to me and all will be at peace. Truly, I tell you, every act of true, trusting and total surrender to me produces the effect you desire, and resolves thorny situations".
Surrendering to me doesn't mean tormenting, worrying and despairing, and then addressing a restless prayer to me to do as you wish; but it does mean turning restlessness into prayer. Surrender means calmly closing your soul's eyes, turning your mind away from all tribulation, and entrusting yourself to me so that I alone may work, saying to me: "I entrust this to you. It's up to you to think about it for me".
Preoccupation, restlessness and worry about consequences are antithetical to surrender. Close your eyes and let the current of my grace carry you. Close your eyes and let me act. Close your eyes and think of the present moment, turning your thoughts away from the future as a temptation. Rest in me, believing in my Goodness, and I assure you by my Love, that by saying to me with these dispositions of the heart: "It's up to you to think about it for me", I'll really think about it. I'll console you, I'll free you, I'll guide you. And when I have to divert your steps from the path you're planning to take, I'll carry you in my arms, and you'll find yourselves like sleeping children in their mother's arms, walking on the right path.
What disturbs you and causes you immense pain is your reasoning, your thinking, your obsession, and wanting at all costs to solve yourself what ails you.
O, how many things I accomplish, when the soul, in both its spiritual and material necessities, turns to me and says: "It's up to you to think about it for me", then closes its eyes and rests!
You, in your pain, pray for me to work. But you pray for me to work as you wish. You don't rely on me, but you want me to adapt to your ideas. You are not cripples who ask the doctor for treatment, but you suggest it. Don't do so, but pray as I taught you in the Lord's Prayer: "May your Name be sanctified," that is, may it be glorified in this need of mine; "May your Kingdom come," that is, may everything that happens to me contribute to your Kingdom, in us and in the world. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven", that is, dispose of everything as you wish for our eternal and temporal life.
If you really say to me: "Thy will be done", that is, "It's up to you to think about it for me", I intervene with all my Power, and resolve the most closed situations. Do you realize that misfortune is pressing instead of disappearing? Close your eyes and say to me with confidence: "Thy will be done. It's up to you to think about it for me".
I'm telling you, I'm thinking about it, I'm intervening like a doctor and I'll perform a miracle if need be. Can you see that the situation is getting worse? Don't get upset, but close your eyes and say: "It's up to you to think about it for me". I'm telling you, I'm thinking about it, and there's no more powerful treatment than my loving intervention. I only think about it when you close your eyes. When you see that things are getting complicated, say as you close your soul's eyes, "Jesus, it's your turn to think about it for me."
Do so for every necessity. Do so, all of you, and you will see great, incessant and silent miracles. I assure you of this through my Love.
So be it."
Learning to trust with Don Dolindo
The Neapolitan parish priest is a great teacher of trust in God. He has left us a very short but powerful phrase that we can recite when we're going through difficulties or anxieties. You can even memorize it and repeat it regularly: "O Jesus, I surrender myself to you. It's up to you to think about it."
This little prayer was taught by Jesus to Don Dolindo during a vision. Jesus explained to the priest that he acts like a doctor and performs miracles. This prayer is considered infallible because it was given by Christ himself.
With Hozana, confide your worries and discover God's mercy.
By registering free of charge for various prayer communities on Hozana, you have the opportunity to through certain communities. Don Dolindo and other saints have taught us about God's mercy. You can .
