Father Dolindo Ruotolo

Father Dolindo Ruotolo
(1882-1970)

A Prophet for our Time

O Jesus, I Surrender Myself to You

On November 19, 1970 Don (Fr) Dolindo Ruotolo died at the age of 88.  Padre Pio once said of this priest from Naples, Italy, "The whole of paradise is in your soul".  His name "Dolindo" means "Pain" and his life was rich with this pain.  As a child, a teenager, a seminarian and a priest, he experienced humiliation which was the realization of the prophetic words of a bishop who said, "You will be a martyr, but in your heart, not with your blood."

In his profound humility, he was able to hear the words of God.  Even with his hidden life, he was one of the greatest prophets of the last century.  He wrote to Bishop Hnilica 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."  On this postcard, he wrote words of consolation for Poland and all the countries suffering under the communist regime.  This prophecy was realized in the papacy of John Paul II. 

In his tremendous suffering, Dolindo became more and more a child who lived his self offering to the Divine Father.  "I as totally poor, a poor nothing.  My strength is my prayer, my leader is the will of God which I let Him take me by the hand.  My security over the uneven path is the heavenly mother Mary."

One of the treasures from the words which Jesus spoke to Dolindo was the teaching about total abandonment to God.  In the upcoming novena, Jesus is talking to Father Dolindo and also to you.