First Mass in the

Philippines

The first Catholic Mass in the Philippines

was held on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday.
It was said by Father Pedro de
Valderrama along the shores of what was
referred to in the journals of Antonio
Pigafetta as "Mazaua".
 First Mass in the Philippines

A detail of Carlos V. Francisco's First Mass in the

Philippines painting

Date 31 March 1521 (Easter

Sunday)

Location Uncertain. Possibly

Mazaua, Southern
Leyte or Masao, Caraga,
Mindanao

Today, this site is widely believed by many

to be Limasawa at the tip of Southern
Leyte,[1] though this is contested by some
who assert that the first mass was
instead held at Masao, Butuan.[2]

Landing on Philippine shores

When Ferdinand Magellan and his
European crew sailed from San Lucar de
Barrameda for a expedition to search for
spices, these explorers landed on the
Philippines after their voyage from other
proximate areas. On March 28, 1521, while
at sea, they saw a bonfire which turned
out to be Mazaua (believed to be today's
Limasawa) where they anchored.[3]
Francisco Albo’s Log: Route of
Magellan’s Expedition in the Island of
Saint Lazarus

On March 16, 1521 as they sailed in a

westerly course from Ladrones or known
as Mariana Island at the present, they
saw land towards the northwest but they
didn't landed there due to shallow places
and later found its name as Yunagan. On
that same day, they went in a small island
called Suluan which is a part of Samar and
there they anchored. Leaving from those
two islands, they sailed westward to an
island of Gada where they took in a
supply of wood and water from that
island, they sailed towards west to a large
island called Seilani (now Leyte). Along the
coast of Seilani, they sailed southwards
and turned southwest until they reached
the island of Mazava . From there, they
sailed northwards again towards the
Island of Seilani and followed the coast of
Seilani towards northwest and saw three
small islands. They sailed westwards and
saw three islets where they anchored for
the night. In the morning, they sailed
southwest. There, they entered canal
between two island, one of which was
called Subu (now called Cebu) and the
other was Matan (now called Mactan).
They sailed towards southwest on that
canal then turned westward and
anchored at the town of Subu wherein
they stayed there for many days.[4]

The Account of Antonio Pigafetta:

Route of Magellan’s Expedition in
the Island of St. Lazarus

Antonio Pigafetta was a famous Italian

traveller who studied navigation and
known by the name of Antonio Lambardo
or Francisco Antonio Pigafetta. He joined
the Portuguese, Captain Ferdinand
Magellan and his Spanish crew on their
trip to Maluku Island.[5] Pigafetta has the
most complete account of Magellan
expedition entitled Primo viaggio intorno
al mondo (First Voyage around the world).
He was one of the eighteen survivors
who returned to Spain aboard the
"Victoria" and therefore considered as an
eyewitness of the significant events
happened on the first mass of which
Magellan names it the Islands of Saint
Lazarus that is later called the Philippine
Archipelago. Pigafetta narrated on his
account the events happened from March
16, 1521 when they first saw the Island of
the Philippine group up to April 7, 1521
when the expedition landed on Cebu. On
March 16, 1521, there was a "high land"
named "Zamal" that was sighted by the
Magellan's expedition which was some
300 leagues westward of the Ladrones
Island. On March 17, 1521, they landed on
"uninhabited island" or known as
"Humunu" (Homonhon) which Pigafetta
referred to as "Watering place of good
signs" because the place is abundant in
gold. Humunu lays right of Zamal at 10
degrees north latitude. They stayed there
8 days from March 17 to March 25, 1521. On
March 25, 1521, they left the island of
Homonhon and change route towards
west southwest, between four islands:
namely, Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson, and
Albarien. Afterwards, they sail westward
towards Leyte, then followed the Leyte
coast southward passing between the
island of Ibusson on their port side and
Hiunangan bay on their starboard, and
then continued southward, the returning
westward to Mazaua. On March 28, 1521,
there is an island lies on a latitude of 9
and 2/3 towards the arctic pole and in a
longitude 100 and 62 degrees from the
line of demarcation. It is named as
Mazaua which is 25 leagues from the
Acquada. On April 4, 1521, they left Mazaua
bound for Cebu and guided by their King
who sailed on his own boat. All
throughout their route, it took them past
five island namely: Ceylon, Bohol,
Canighan, Baibai, and Gatighan. They
sailed from Mazaua west by northwest
into the Canigao channel, with Bohol
island to port and Leyte and Canigao
islands to starboard. Then they continue
sailing northwards along the Leyte coast,
past Baibai to Gatighan (it was 20
leagues from Mazaua and 15 leagues from
Subu or Cebu. At Gatighan, they sailed
westward to the three island of the
Camotes group namely: Poro, Pasihan,
and Ponson. From the Camotes Island
they sailed southwestward towards
"Zubu". On April 7 they entered the harbor
of "Zubu" (Cebu). It takes them three days
to negotiate the journey from Mazaua
northwards to the Camotes Islands and
then southwards to Cebu. That was the
route of Magellan expedition as stated in
the account of Pigafetta. In that route, the
southernmost point reached before
getting to Cebu was Mazaua, located at
nine and two-thirds degrees North
latitude.[4]

Blood compact

The island's sovereign ruler was Rajah

Kolambu. When Magellan and comrades
set foot on the grounds of Mazaua, he
befriended the Rajah together with his
brother Rajah Siagu of Butuan. In those
days, it was customary among the
indigenous—and in most of southeast
Asia—to seal friendship with a blood
compact. On instigation of Magellan who
had heard the Malayan term for it, casi
casi, the new friends performed the ritual.
This was the first recorded blood compact
between Filipinos and Spaniards. Gifts
were exchanged by the two parties when
the celebration had ended.[6][7]

First Mass

On March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday,

Magellan ordered a Mass to be
celebrated which was officiated by Father
Pedro Valderrama, the Andalusion
chaplain of the fleet, the only priest then.
Conducted near the shores of the island,
the First Holy Mass marked the birth of
Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.
Colambu and Siaiu were the first natives
of the archipelago, which was not yet
named "Philippines" until the expedition of
Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1543, to attend
the Mass among other native
inhabitants.[6][8]

Planting of the cross

In the afternoon of the same day,

Magellan instructed his comrades to plant
a large wooden cross on the top of the hill
overlooking the sea.[9] Magellan's
chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, who
recorded the event said:

"After the cross was erected in

position, each of us repeated a
Pater Noster and an Ave Maria,
and adored the cross; and the
kings [Colambu and Siaiu] did
the same."[10]

Magellan then took ownership of the

islands where he had landed in the name
of King Charles V which he had named
earlier on March 16 Archipelago of Saint
Lazarus because it was the day of the
saint when the Armada reached the
archipelago.[6][8]

In the Account of Francisco Albo, he did

not mention about the first mass in the
Philippines but only the planting of the
cross upon a mountain top from which
could be seen three islands to the west
and southwest, where they were told
there was much gold. This also fits the
southern end of Limasawa. It does not
suits the coast of Butuan from which no
islands could be seen to the south or the
southwest, but only towards the north.[4]
Proclamation of the national
shrine
On June 19, 1960, Republic Act No. 2733,
called the Limasawa Law, was enacted
without Executive approval on June 19,
1960.[11] The legislative fiat declared The
site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the
Province of Leyte, where the first Mass in
the Philippines was held is hereby declared
a national shrine to commemorate the
birth of Christianity in the Philippines.[12]
Magallanes is east of the island of
Limasawa. In 1984 Imelda Marcos had a
multi-million pesos Shrine of the First Holy
Mass built, an edifice made of steel, bricks
and polished concrete, and erected on
top of a hill overlooking barangay
Magallanes, Limasawa. A super typhoon
completely wiped this out just a few
months later. Another shrine was
inaugurated in 2005.[13]

Limasawa celebrates the historic and

religious coming of the Spaniards every
March 31 with a cultural presentation and
anniversary program dubbed as
Sinugdan, meaning "beginning.".[14] Yet
this has no reference at all to a Catholic
mass being held on March 31, 1521.

Historical controversies
Masao

Some Filipino historians have long

contested the idea that Limasawa was
the site of the first Catholic mass in the
country.[15] Historian Sonia Zaide identified
Masao (also Mazaua) in Butuan as the
location of the first Christian mass.[9] The
basis of Zaide's claim is the diary of
Antonio Pigafetta, chronicler of Magellan's
voyage. In 1995 then Congresswoman
Ching Plaza of Agusan del Norte-Butuan
City filed a bill in Congress contesting the
Limasawa hypothesis and asserting the
"site of the first mass" was Butuan.[16] The
Philippine Congress referred the matter
to the National Historical Institute for it to
study the issue and recommend a
historical finding. Then NHI chair Dr.
Samuel K. Tan reaffirmed Limasawa as
the site of the first mass.[17]

Bolinao

Odoric of Pordenone, an Italian and

Franciscan friar and missionary explorer, is
heartily believed by many Pangasinenses
to have celebrated the first mass in
Pangasinan in around 1324 that would
have predated the mass held in 1521 by
Ferdinand Magellan. A marker in front of
Bolinao Church states that the first Mass
on Philippine soil was celebrated in
Bolinao Bay in 1324 by a Franciscan
missionary, Blessed Odorico.

However, there is scholarly doubt that

Odoric was ever at the Philippines.[18]
Ultimately, the National Historical Institute
led by its chair Ambeth Ocampo
recognized the historical records of
Limasawa in Southern Leyte as the venue
of the first Mass, held on March 31,
1521.[19][20]

Confusion on meeting the king of

Butuan
According to Bernad (2002)[21], the
confusion originated on the
misinterpretation of some of the 17th
century historians such as Colin and
Combes, often yielding incorrect
representation of Magellan’s voyage,
which ultimately led to the misconception
of the first mass being held at Butuan,
rather than Limasawa. The writings of the
previous historians failed to depict the
correct route of Magellan’s ships toward
the Philippines. Some write-ups accounted
for the entrance of the ships from the
southern part of the country whereas the
account of Antonio Pigafetta revealed the
entrance from the eastern part of the
country, from the direction of the Pacific
region [22].

Of utmost significance other than the non-

verisimilar picture of the route of the
voyage is the confusion on the encounter
between the explorer Ferdinand Magellan
and the two datus when the former
reached the island of Limasawa, formerly
called "Mazaua". According to the
previous writings, after the Spaniards
visited the island, they went, together
with the two native kings to Butuan and
there erected a cross on top of a hill to
symbolize friendship with the natives and
to serve as a sign to future Spanish
explorers. After the erection of the cross
and going about the events in the first
mass, the men went to Cebu, by the
initiative of Magellan, in search for
resources.

This account rooted from the

misunderstanding of the meeting
between the three persons. According to
Pigafetta, Magellan met the datu of
Limasawa, and another datu, whom the
scribe himself called “one of his brothers”,
namely the king of Butuan. This highlights
the origin of the confusion – Magellan in
fact never went to Butuan; he and his
men celebrated the first mass on the
island of Limasawa, together with the two
datus: one from the island and another
from Butuan, before proceeding to Cebu.

Previous historians, in difference from

Pigafetta’s account, thought that
Magellan went to Butuan and there held
the first mass on the basis of the
explorer’s meeting with the island’s king.
In reality, Magellan’s route never included
Butuan as one of its destinations. From
the eastern part of the Philippines,
reaching the island of Homonhon,
Magellan proceeded to Limasawa and
thereupon met two kings, namely the
datu of Limasawa and the datu of Butuan.
After celebrating the first mass in that
same island, the explorer and his men set
out for Cebu in search for greater
resources.

Notes
1. Valencia, Linda B. "Limasawa: Site of
the First Mass" . Philippines News
Agency. Ops.gov.ph. Archived from
the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved
2007-11-12.
2. "Limasawa first mass not a 'hoax' –
experts" . CBCP News. June 8, 2014.
3. "A short Philippine History before the
1898 Revolution" . Newsletter of the
 District of Asia. Sspxasia.com. 2001.
Retrieved 2007-11-12.
4. Bernad, Miguel. "Butuan or Limasawa:
The Site of the First Mass in the
Philippines: A Reexaminationof the
Evidence" . First Site of Mass in the
Philippines. 5: 146–154 – via BUDHI: A
journal of ideas and culture.
5. [1]
6. Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1974).
Introduction to Filipino History.
Quezon City, Philippines: GAROTECH
Publishing. ISBN 971-10-2409-8.
7. Mercado, Monina A. (Editor) (1985).
Dioramas:a visual history of the
 Philippines. Metro Manila, Philippines:
Ayala Museum.
8. Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1962).
Philippine History. Manila, Philippines:
Inang Wika Publishing Co.
9. Halili 2004, pp. 73
10. Pigfetta, Antonio (2008) [c. 1525,
historical reproduction republished c.
1905]. Helen, Emma; Robinson, James
Alexander (eds.). The Philippine
Islands 1493-1898 . BiblioBazaar, LLC.
p. 129 . ISBN 978-1-4264-6706-6.
ISBN 1-4264-6706-0, ISBN 978-1-4264-
6706-6
11. "Republic Act No. 2733" . lgu.ph. June
19, 1960.
12. "REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2733 - AN ACT TO
DECLARE THE SITE IN MAGALLANES,
LIMASAWA ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE
OF LEYTE, WHERE THE FIRST MASS IN
THE PHILIPPINES WAS HELD AS A
NATIONAL SHRINE, TO PROVIDE FOR
THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL
MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS
THEREAT, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES" . Chanrobles Law
Library. June 19, 1960. Retrieved
2008-12-13.
13. Borrinaga, Rolando O. (2007-04-14).
"The right place for disputed first
Mass in Limasawa" . Inquirer Visayas.
Inquirer.net. Archived from the
original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved
2007-11-12.
14. "Southern Leyte Is Famous For..."
Wow Philippines. Tourism.gov.ph.
Archived from the original on 2008-
02-12. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
15. "Butuan to pursue claim it was site of
First Mass in RP, 485 years age" . The
Philippine Star. April 2, 2006.
16. Ben Serrano (April 4, 2006). "Butuan
reclaims part as first mass venue" .
 sunstar.com.ph. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
17. Isagani Medina (1981). An Evaluation
of the Controversy on the First Mass
in the Philippines. Manila: National
Historical Institute. pp. 31–35.
ISSN 0115-3927 .
18. "[T]hat the name of Luzon [Dolrdiin],
which Mr. Romanet in his work Les
voyages en Asie au XIV siecle, took
for original in the work of Bl. Odoric de
Pordenone is due to the natives and
not to the foreigners; secondly, that
for Odoric the so-called islands of
Dondiin, comprise Ceylon, a part of
Sonda, probably Berneo and the
 Island Hainan, but by no means the
Philippine Islands.” - Cited by Isacio R.
Rodriguez, “Bibliography on Legazpi
and Urdaneta,” Philippine Studies 13,
n. 2 (1965), 296 - 297
19. Fuertes, Yolanda (17 Nov 2007).
"Bolinao stakes claim to Mass held in
1324" . Inquirer.net. Northern Luzon
Bureau. Archived from the original on
22 December 2014. Retrieved 23 Dec
2014.
20. "Was First Mass held in Limasawa or
Butuan? Church urged to help settle
controversy" . interaksyon.com. April
3, 2012.
 21. Bernad, M. A. (2002). Butuan or
Limasawa: The Site of the First Mass
in the Philippines: A Reexaminationof
the Evidence.
22. Robles, H. E. (1985). The first voyage
around the world: From Pigafetta to
García Márquez. History of European
Ideas, 6(4), 385-404.

Bibliography
Halili, M.C. (2004). Philippine History . Rex
Bookstore, Inc. pp. 72–73 . ISBN 978-971-23-
3934-9.
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