English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese 
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.
Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.
Summary
- The Suscipe, “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,” is from St Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises (section 234); Ignatius wrote it in Spanish, beginning “Tomad, Señor, y recibid.”
- The Imitation of Christ (Book 3, chapter 15) and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer’s morning “Dedication of Soul and Body to God’s Service” give two more traditional prayers of surrender; the 1896 hymn “I Surrender All” is a third.
- Charles de Foucauld’s Prayer of Abandonment comes from a meditation he wrote in 1896 on Luke 23:46; Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus shortened it into a prayer in December 1940.
- Fr Dolindo Ruotolo (1882–1970), a Naples priest and Servant of God, is known for “Gesù, pensaci tu,” “Jesus, you take care of it”; his Surrender Novena repeats “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” ten times a day.
- The Bible’s best-known prayer of surrender is Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane: “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
- Surrender does not mean doing nothing: Jesus rose from prayer to meet his arrest (Mark 14:42), and Nehemiah’s builders “made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch” (Nehemiah 4:9).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Nehemiah 4:9; Psalm 31:5, 15; Psalm 37:5; Psalm 55:22; Proverbs 3:5–6; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Matthew 6:10, 21; Matthew 26:39; Mark 10:45; Mark 14:42; Luke 1:38; Luke 9:23; Luke 22:42; Luke 23:46; Acts 21:11–14; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:32; James 4:15; 1 Peter 5:7; 1 John 1:9). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Ignatius of Loyola. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Translated by Elder Mullan, S.J. “Contemplation to Gain Love.” https://sacred-texts.com/chr/seil/seil35.htm ; translator and date: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/spiritual-exercises-12578
- “Suscipe.” Wikipedia (Spanish and Latin opening words; section 234). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suscipe
- “St. Ignatius Loyola.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07639c.htm
- Thomas à Kempis. The Imitation of Christ. Translated by William Benham. Book 3, chapter 15. Project Gutenberg eBook no. 1653. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1653
- “Thomas à Kempis.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14661a.htm
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Family Prayer, “Dedication of Soul and Body to God’s Service,” p. 588; The Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper, Prayer of Consecration, p. 81. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Van DeVenter, Judson W. “All to Jesus I surrender” (“I Surrender All”), 1896; tune SURRENDER by Winfield S. Weeden. Hymnary.org. https://hymnary.org/text/all_to_jesus_i_surrender
- Chatelard, Antoine. “La prière d’abandon de Charles de Foucauld.” Vie consacrée 67, no. 4 (15 July 1995): 208–223. https://www.charlesdefoucauld.org/docs/fr_priere_abandon.pdf
- Holy See. “Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916),” biography for his beatification, 13 November 2005. https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20051113_de-foucauld_en.html
- Pope Francis. Homily at the Holy Mass and Canonization, 15 May 2022. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2022/documents/20220515-omelia-canonizzazione.html
- “Blessed Charles de Foucauld’s Prayer of Abandonment.” Word on Fire (English text of the prayer). https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/contributors/blessed-charles-de-foucaulds-prayer-of-abandonment/
- “‘Jesus, you take care of it’: Prayer of a priest Padre Pio admired.” Aleteia, 20 April 2021. https://aleteia.org/2021/04/20/jesus-you-take-care-of-it-prayer-of-a-priest-padre-pio-admired/
- “The Surrender Novena by Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882–1970).” NovenaPrayer.com. https://novenaprayer.com/2020/05/26/the-surrender-novena-by-father-dolindo-ruotolo-1882-1970/
