"Jesus, I love You!"- A New Way to Pray

"For simple souls, there must be no complicated ways." - St. Therese of the Child Jesus

Recently I read a marvelous account of the friendship between Servant of God Don Dolindo (also a friend of Padre Pio's) and Blessed Maria Giuseppina Catanea. You can find the whole story at my own friend Maura McKeegan's substack "Stories of Don Dolindo" HERE, but what especially struck me was a form of prayer Don Dolindo taught Sister Giuseppina - lovely in itself but also very reminiscent of a way to pray that Jesus taught our own little Servant of God, Marcel Van.

First, then, from Maura:

Don Dolindo went one day to the Carmelite convent to visit his dear friend Sr. Maria Giuseppina. Years earlier, Sister Maria Giuseppina, on the brink of death from tuberculosis and spinal meningitis, had received a miraculous healing through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier, and Don Dolindo had been present when it happened. The miracle had bound these two saintly souls together in a close spiritual connection . . . 

On this day when Dolindo came to the convent to visit her, Sr. Maria Giuseppina was taking longer than usual to come down. As Dolindo sat in the parlor, he began to pray in an unusual way: overcome with love for Our Lord, he started telling the objects in the room of his love.

“Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, door,” he prayed. “Jesus, I love You, and I say it to You, table.” Everything from the table to the bench to the grating became an occasion to declare his effusion of love for Jesus.

When Sr. Giuseppina finally arrived in the parlor, she looked around in amazement.
“Father, what is happening?” she exclaimed. “Why is everything inside here shouting, ‘Jesus, I love You?’ How is it possible that from every wall, piece of furniture, and object in this room, I hear a distinct voice of God’s love?”

Maura goes on to explain her own use of this prayer:

After I read this story, it remained in my heart as a reminder that when I am just waiting somewhere, or my mind is blank, or I’m too tired to focus on other forms of prayer, I, too, can follow Dolindo’s method of using what I see around me to help me pray.

This morning, as I was taking a walk through my neighborhood, I saw a deer at the edge of the woods nearby. As I watched it pass in front of me, I felt inspired to imitate Dolindo’s prayer.

Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, deer.

After I interiorly prayed those words, the deer stopped, turned its head, and looked straight at me. At the same time, the first verse of Psalm 42 flooded my mind: “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” The deer continued to gaze at me for a few long moments, then turned and walked into the woods toward a stream.

I looked around again.

Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, trees.
Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, flowers.
Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, birds.

The more I prayed Dolindo’s prayer, the more everything around me began to feel alive with God’s love. . . . I was suddenly noticing everything. The tiny white flowers on the side of the road. The notes of birdsong emerging from the field. The misty drops of rain filling the air. Everything I saw around me, the whole of creation, was exquisite—and it was resounding with God’s love for His people.

The declarations of love that I offered Him through His creation had started with Him, as all love does, and now they came right back to me. The “voice of God’s love,” as Sister Maria Giuseppina called it, was flowing all around me, filling the air like those misty drops of rain, covering everything in His glistening grace.

And in that moment, I knew two things:
The world is alive with the love of God, and Don Dolindo is showing souls how to see that love everywhere we look.

*     *     *

Now we come to the prayer Jesus taught Marcel. Our little brother wrote about this on April 28, 1946, saying:

I remember one day when I had absolutely nothing to say to little Jesus, I kept looking at Him, full of disgust, trying to meditate but without knowing how to begin. Seeing me in this state, little Jesus called me in order to teach me a way to occupy my mind with Him. He told me first of all to look at the bench and He added: "Little brother, say: "I love You in this bench.'" He then told me to look at everything in the oratory and to repeat for each object: 'Jesus, I love You in . . . the dust, in the fly, in the window, in the foot of the bench, in the flower, in the plant, in the flower pot, in the earth in the pot, in the shelf where it is placed, in the brick, in the pillar; I love You in the bird, in the bird's song, in the frog, in the white tree frog, in the noise it makes, in the aeroplane, in the motor car . . . etc." 

While little Jesus was teaching me this lesson, I felt like laughing and I was very distracted. I then had the following distraction: I said to myself that if it was my job to teach children, I would do such and such a thing to indulge them. Then little Jesus, once more, invited me to say: "Little Jesus, I love You in my little brothers who are playing."

Finally, little Jesus said to me: "Little brother, you can always make use of this method, and so you will be able, while resting, to make this prayer continually. In addition, this method will help you never to commit any fault in your distractions. Where the Spirit leads you, your love also leads you, in such a way that I am loved by you in every place . . ."

Since then, when I have nothing to say, I use this method, but I often want to laugh. I once said, "Little Jesus, I love You in the fly." And He said to me, laughing: "The fly smells terrible. It is very dirty, nevertheless, you love Me truly, in it. In comforting Me like this, in very ordinary things, even in a simple grain of sand, you force Me to follow you step by step in order to give you My kisses. . . "

At this point in Marcel's Conversations, Jesus takes over. He says:

"Marcel, on this day of 28 April 1946 [and we can add, on this day of 30 June 2025], how many very ordinary little things there are that people never think of, that they could offer to Me to please Me. In the eyes of Love, these little things, far from being ordinary, are very precious. However, one thing saddens Me, it is that these little things do not know how to love Me and there is no one to love Me in them and to offer them to Me. From now on, little brother, remember that My Love hides itself in the dust and the grains of sand, waiting until your words of love come to comfort Me. In loving Me in these little things, you love Me equally in the souls who do not wish still to belong to Me; I receive consolations even in these souls, since I find your love there."

*    *    *

Which method appeals to you?

"Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, fly."
Or if you're lucky, you can say it to a deer, or if you're indoors (without a fly or a deer), you can say, as Don Dolindo did: "Jesus, I love You, and I say it to you, door."

"Little Jesus, I love You in the fly."
Or, again, perhaps you will get to say someday, "Little Jesus, I love You in the deer."
And I am almost certain you can say, if not now then soon,
"Little Jesus, I love You in the door."

I have been going for a walk each morning, and at one short juncture of a sidewalk I tread, I have found a snail crossing. One day there were ten snails crossing! Today I counted six. I forgot to say it then, but it's never too late with snails, because my son recently told me they don't have the gift of hearing anyhow. (Although that initially sounds sad, upon reflection you can see it might be one of God's great mercies. There are dogs that cross that neck of the sidewalk too, and can you imagine how loud a big dog would sound to a snail?)

Here goes then:

Jesus, I love you, and I say it to you, snails!
Jesus, I love you in the snails!

The variations on both prayers are uncountable, and I hope you have fun telling Jesus of your love - tell the world, one creature and one object at a time, whether you speak to them or to Jesus, loving Him aloud to them, loving them (whether aloud or silently) in them. The important thing is that you get to enjoy some prayer time that's less stressful and less distracted than it might have been. Or perhaps you can take a time that wasn't looking prayerful at all (for instance, while you wait in line somewhere), and interject some love for Jesus wherever you find yourself.

His love for us never ends, and He finds a million ways to tell us each day. If we play our cards right, our love for Him can find a million expressions in return - we can begin now and enjoy telling Him and all the world!

Draw me, we will run!