Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano
VocalEssence Chorus and Ensemble Singers
Orchestra

Note:
Composed in 2016 for the centennial of the Apparitions and commissioned by the Shrine of Fátima, the text comes from the Apparitions of the Angel and of Our Lady and from the Miracle of the Sun at Fátima. English, Latin, and Portuguese texts are woven into the vocal parts.

Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano soloist, performed in various productions while studying opera at the University of Cape Town’s College of Music including La Traviata and Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco which was conducted by Philip Brunelle. It was after he heard her that he knew there would be a future role for her with VocalEssence!

Sung in Portuguese
CHORUS:
Do not fear! I am the angel of peace.
Pray with me:
My Lord, I believe, adore, wait and love You.
I ask You forgiveness for those who do not believe,
do not adore, do not wait and do not love You.
—First apparition of the Angel, Spring 1916

I am your guardian angel, the angel of Portugal.
—Second apparition of the Angel, Summer 1916, translation by Eduardo Ganilho

Sung in Latin
O Father, Son and Holy Spirit, of the most Holy Trinity, I heartily adore you and I bring to you the most precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, in all holy things of the present earth, to
repair the insults, acts of sacrilege and works of apathy, to which he himself gives great offence. And through the infinite merits of his Most Holy Heart, and also of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of miserable offenders, I beseech you.
—Translation by Edward Tambling

SOPRANO SOLO:
Do not be afraid; I will not harm you.

I am of Heaven.

I have come to ask you to come here for six months on the
thirteenth day of the month, at this same hour. Later I shall say who I am and what I desire. And I shall return here yet a seventh time.
Are you willing to offer yourselves to God?
—Words spoken by Mary at Fátima, 13 May 1917

Pray the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and an end to
the war.
—Words spoken by Mary at Fátima, 13 June 1917

Continue to pray the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary in order to obtain peace for the world and an end of war. You have seen hell... If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end, but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out... When you
see the night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given by God.

Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.
—Words spoken by Mary at Fátima, 13 July 1917

Have two litters made. One is to be carried by you and Jacinta and two other girls dressed in white; the other one is to be carried by Francisco and three other boys.
—Words spoken by Mary at Fátima, 19 August 1917

I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am
the Lady of the Rosary. Continue... The war is going to end and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.
—Words spoken by Mary at Fátima, 13 October 1917

In the last month I will perform a miracle...
—Words spoken by Mary at Fátima, 19 August 1917

CHORUS:
Look!
Miracle!
Look at the sun!
Beautiful sun! What a beautiful thing!
—Miracle of the Sun on the 13th of October 1917, documented verbal expressions

SOPRANO SOLO:
I received your Word in my Immaculate Heart. I conceived Him in my womb, and gave birth to the Creator of the world. At the foot of the Cross I received all men and women as my children, born to eternal life through the death of my Son. When the Apostles were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit, the promised one, I united my supplications to their prayers and became the model for a supplicant people. Finally elevated to the glory of heaven, I
surround with my eternal love the pilgrim people, and lovingly direct their steps to the heavenly dwelling place, until the glorious coming of the Lord.
—James MacMillan

CHORUS:
Hail, O bearer of Jesus!
Hail, O Mother of God!
Hail Mary!
—Translation by Edward Tambling