Surrender's origin story

Surrender's origin story

It's time to share a little about Surrender and the inspiration behind it.

For a long time, I (Danita) struggled to find Catholic books and resources in South Africa—especially the ones I heard about on my many favourite podcasts. It often felt impossible to access them locally. On top of that, I found it equally challenging to find beautiful and meaningful Catholic and Christian gifts for sacraments and other special occasions.

So, after sitting with the idea for a long time, last year I finally decided it was time to start my own online store. I prayed about it, trying to figure out how everything would come together, and I turned to one of my favourite novenas—the Surrender Novena.

When it came time to choose a name, I kept coming back to Surrender. After more prayer, I knew it was the right choice. My sister, Micaela, designed the logo, I worked out how to build the site on Shopify, and before I knew it, Surrender Gifts was live! Very shortly thereafter, Caeli Studios came on board (more on that in an upcoming newsletter!).

Since then, we’ve continued praying for guidance and even popped up at a few markets so people could see we’re real human beings behind the screen!

Just yesterday, I was listening to a podcast on the Surrender Novena, which is why I felt prompted to write this letter. It was such a great reminder of the importance of surrendering to God—not in a passive way, but in trusting Him completely in different moments of our lives.

A key prayer from the novena, repeated 10 times each day, is:

“O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!”

For daily use, you might love the Caeli Studios Surrender Novena Pocket Prayer! I personally love these pocket prayers—not only for their beautiful designs but also because they have a convenient ring, allowing me to leave it open on whichever day of the novena I’m praying.

We also wanted to share some resources with you:

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