Where is the site of the first mass?

Is it in Masao or is it
Limasawa.

Magellan ordered a mass to be

celebrated, which was led by Father Pedro Valderrama, the fleet's Andalusian chaplain and the
sole priest at the time. This First Holy Mass marked as the birth of Roman Catholicism here in
the Philippines, which was the sole purpose of Ferdinand Magellan as to why he traveled all the
way to the ph, to introduce the religion roman catholic. The site of the mass is still yet debatable
up to this day, Masao, Butuan, and Limasawa in Southern Leyte all claim to be the location of
the first mass in the Philippines.

 ANTONIO PIGAFETTA - around 1491 when he was born at Vicenza, Republic of Venice or was
known now as Italy and died at the aged of 39-40 around 1531 - He studied astronomy;
geography and cartography - an Italian scholar and explorer from the Republic of Venice - He
travelled with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew on their First Voyage
around the world - He was one of the 18 men who returned to Spain in 1522.
 The first Catholic Mass in the Philippines was held on March 31, 1521 (Eastern Sunday)
 Father Pedro de Valderrama.

 On April 1, 1521 (originally March 31) the first mass in the Philippines was happened in
“Mazaua” now called as Limasawa Island, Leyte.
 R.A. No. 2733 declared Barangay Magallanes in Limasawa, Southern Leyte as the site of the first
mass. 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

The Ultimate Truth? Mazaua is universally believed to be Limasawa, an isle in Leyte in latitude
90 56' N and longitude 1250 5' E. Every literature on the circumnavigation makes the ritualistic
foot- note that Mazaua is present-day Limasawa.
Another assumption is that when the Spanish men arrived to the island, they named it
“Mazaua” for the beauty of the place. As it is their custom to add the prefix “Le” to mean a
particular name, it became the tongue of everyone in the place to call it as “Le Mazaua ”. It was
the local people themselves who later changed the spelling and joined the two words into
“Limasawa”.

 The site of the first mass was first mentioned by Maximillian

Transylvanus on his “De Moluccis…” in 1523 because
he interviewed the survivors of Magellan expedition.
 The survivors mentioned that they landed in “Messana”
where the first mas was officiated.

LIMASAWA AS THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

 Carlo Amoretti (1800) of Ambrosiana Library, a

ecclesiastic, scholar, writer, and scientist. He modernized
Pigafetta’s text and said that Mazaua where Magellan
landed before and the Limasawa mentioned by Fr.
Francisco Combes are the same.
 Jaime de Veyra stated that the first mass was celebrated in Limawasa not in Butuan. 
 Limasawa was supported by Fr. Pablo Pastells, stating by the footnote to Francisco Colin’s Labor
Evangelica that Magellan did not go to Butuan but form Limasawa to Cebu. It was also
supported by Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Jaime de Veyra and James Robertson.
 Fr. Francisco Colin wrote a book about the spread of Christianity in the Philippines but could not
exactly determine the site, but he based in “Limasawa” claim because of the writings of Antonio
Herrera who based his writings to Andres San Martin that the site was in “Mazaua”
 Limasawa became part of Magellan’s expedition because of the writings of Fr. Colin (Dimasaua)
and Fr. Francisco Combes (Limasawa on his “Historia de Mindnao… in 1667)89
 William Henry Scott, Vicente de Jesus and NHI- the eyewitness account for the issue was the
accounts of Gines de Mafra (mariner who reached Mazaua twice; 1521 and 1543) *From
Homonhon, Magellan and his men travelled westward, southwest to the tip of Seilani (Panaon)
to avoid Northeast monsoon Homonhon Limasawa and Panaon.

In the account of Pigafetta, Gomez noticed that he failed to mention some points of the journey where
the masses were held, one example is when they were at the port of San Julian. Pigafetta mentioned
about a mass held on Palm Sunday which was held on April 1, 1520 during their voyage to the west but
never mentioned about Easter Sunday. Same situation happened when the fleet arrived in the
Philippines, Pigafetta only mentioned about the Easter Sunday Mass while he is silent on the Palm
Sunday.

For further investigation, some points at Pigafetta's account was translated as follows:
At dawn on Saturday, March 16, 1521, (feast of St. Lazarus, Gomez inserted) we came upon a highland
at a distance... an island named Zamal (Samar)... the following day (March 17, Sunday) the captain
general desired to land on another island (Humunu) ...uninhabited... in order to be more secure and to
get water and have some rest. He had two tents set up on shore for the sick. On Monday, March 18, we
saw a boat coming towards us with nine men in it. This marks our first human contact with Europeans...
giving signs of joy because of our arrival. At noon on Friday, March 22, those men came as they had
promised. And we lay eight days in that place, where the captain every day visited the sick men who he
had put ashore on the island to recover."

— Antonio Pigafetta

As observed by Gomez, the instance wherein Pigafetta had written about the mass said it had two things
in common; they are both held in the shores and there are Filipino natives present. Another passing
evidence, a document found concerning the landing of Magellan's fleet in Suluan ''(Homonhon)'' and
the treaty with the natives featured in a blog post in 2004.[13] It first came out in an article published in
1934 in Philippine Magazine featured by Percy Gil, and once again featured by Bambi Harper in her
column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer back in 2004.

In the Account of Francisco Albo, he is an eyewitness along with Antonio Pigafetta, one of the 18
survivors who returned to spain aboard the Victoria. 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.

According to Albo in his log he mentioned that on march 16 (1521) they sailed in westerly course from
Landrones, they saw land towards the northwest; but owing to many shallow places they did not
approach it. They found later its name was Tunagan. They went instead that same day southwards to
another small island named Suluan, which is now known as Butuan, and there they anchored, there they
saw some canoes but these fled at the Spaniards approach. This island was at 9 and two-thirds degrees
North latitude. Departing form those two islands, they sailed westward to an uninhabited island of Gada
where they took in a supply of water and wood. The sae around that island was free form shallows. (So
albo does not give the latitude of this island but according to pigafetta’s account that island seems to be
the ‘Acquada’ or Homonhon, at 10 degrees North Latitude. From that island they sailed westwards
towards a large island names Seilani, Pigafetta calls it Ceylon, was the island of Leyte, that was inhabited
and was known to have gold. He mentioned sailing patungo sa Mazava, where many golds but then
went back towards on island called Seilani.

However base on the analysis of the latitude of the location of the description, Albo’s account would fit
to the location of limasawa island and that was the southern tip of leyte,

the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) panel adapted the recommendation[5] and
unanimously agreed that the evidence and arguments presented by the pro-Butuan advocates are not
sufficient and convincing enough to warrant the repeal or reversal of the ruling on the case by the
National Historical Institute (the NHCP's forerunner).

American librarian James Robertson was thorough. He went the extra mile and translated from scratch
what is considered the most complete Pigafetta manuscript in Milan’s Biblioteca Ambrosiana. His
translation of Pigafetta’s account of the First Mass is in Vol. 32 of Blair and Robertson’s The Philippine
Islands. The official declaration is that Mazaua is the island across from the southern tip of Leyte named
Limasawa. This is hotly disputed by those who insist that Mazaua is in Butuan and is the true site of the
First Mass. They question the reasoning and accuracy of the studies leading to the decision favoring
Limasawa.