The Britain’s Got Talent star will sing the hymn “How great thou art” as well as her signature song “I Dreamed a Dream” before the Mass starts at about 5.15pm.
Following a hymn at the end of the Mass, she will sing a farewell song to Pope Benedict as he leaves the park to travel to Glasgow Airport for his flight to London.
During the Mass she will be singing James MacMillan’s new setting along with a choir of 800 and an orchestra including an organ, timpani and brass.
The singer, who became a YouTube sensation after performing “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent, said singing for the Pope was “her greatest dream come true” and that she was “honoured and humbled” by the invitation.
She will be singing alongside Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus. In between the performances the crowd will have a chance to rehearse the new Mass setting composed by James MacMIllan.
Miss Boyle said: “To be able to sing for the Pope is a great honour and something I’ve always dreamed of – it’s indescribable. I think September 16 will stand out in my memory as something I’ve always wanted to do, I’ve always wanted to sing for his Holiness and I can’t really put into words my happiness, that this wish has come true at last.”
Miss Boyle said she had been asked by Cardinal Keith O’Brien to perform at the event.
“My family will be there on the day on what will be a very special day for all of us and I hope they will be proud of me,” she said.
Speaking of her late mother, she said: “I know she won’t be there physically, but she was at Bellahouston Park in 1982 and I know she will be there again, spiritually, she will be with us.”
Miss Boyle said that her own faith was the “backbone” of her life.
She said: “The Pope’s visit is a very big event for Scottish Catholics… I pray and say the rosary each day and am very close to my religion. I am humbled and honoured by this invitation and I hope I can do my best.”
Cardinal O’Brien said: “I am delighted that Susan will be able to perform for the Pope. I think it is wonderful that she will have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and as her bishop I am hugely proud of her.”
Comments