FIRST MASS

The first holy mass in the Philippine was held in Limasawa island on March 31, 1521.
This is a small town in the southern tip of the province of Southern Leyte. It was Easter
Sunday at that time and was officiated by Father Pedro de Valderrama, the only priest
then. This was also the day that marked the birth of Roman Catholicism here in the
Philippines. I choose this topic because I and my family are also Catholics and I want to
know more about our religion on how did it start and how the people in the past use to
celebrate it every Sunday.

On March 16, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew sailed in a westerly course from
Ladrones (Mariana Island at the present) they saw land towards the northwest but they
didn't landed there due to very low water or the water there is not very deep, named
Yunagan. They went in a small island called Suluan, on that day also, which is a part of
Samar and there they anchored. After from the two islands, they sailed westward to an
island of Gada and took a supply of wood and water, they sailed towards west to a large
island called Seilani (now Leyte). Along that island, they sailed southwards and turned
southwest 'til they reached the island of Mazava. From there, they sailed northwards to
the Island of Seilani and followed the coast of that island, on the northwest and then
they saw three small islands. While in the westwards they saw three islets where they
stop and stayed for the night. The next morning, they went/ sailed southwest. Then,
there they entered canal between two island, one is the Subu (Cebu) and the other was
Matan (Mactan). They sailed towards southwest on that canal then turned westward
and stop/anchored at the town of Subu and stayed there for many days.

And on March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday, Magellan announced and ordered a Mass
to be celebrated and conducted near the shores of the island, it is the First Holy Mass
marked as the birth of Roman Catholicism here in the Philippines. The first natives of
the archipelago was Colambu and Siaiu, which was not yet named "Philippines" until
the expedition of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1543, to attend the Mass among other
native inhabitants.
On June 19, 1960, the Limasawa Law (Rebuplic Act No. 2733) was enacted without
Executive approval on June 19, 1960. 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. The Limasawa is in the east of Magallanes. In 1984
Imelda Marcos built Shrine of the First Holy Mass worth million, bricks, edifice made of
steel and polished concrete, and erected on top of a hill that overlooks the barangay of
Magallanes, Limasawa. Few months later, a super typhoon completely wiped this out. In
2005, another shrine was inaugurated.

Limasawa always celebrates the historic and religious coming of the Spaniards every
31st of March with a cultural presentation and anniversary program dubbed as
Sinugdan("beginning"). But this has no reference at all to a Catholic mass being held on
March 31, 1521.
REFERENCES:
"Limasawa first mass not a 'hoax' – experts". CBCP News. June 8, 2014.
Rose Carmelle, Lacuata (August 20, 2020). "Limasawa, not Butuan: Gov't historians
affirm site of 1521 Easter Sunday mass in PH". ABS-CBN News.
"A short Philippine History before the 1898 Revolution". Newsletter of the District of
Asia. Sspxasia.com. 2001. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
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.

AUSA, OSHIN A.
ED1-A
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY