READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

WEEK 10: THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINE

(A REEXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE BY: MIGUEL A. BERNAD)

FIRST MASS  The geographical feature

 Bonfire
 According to Pigafetta, the first mass  Balanghai
happened on March 31, 1521 which is  House
Eastern Sunday on Southern Leyte.  Abundance of Gold
 Father Pedro de Valderrama held the  Developed settlement
mass and The Rajah of Mazaua and
Rajah of Butuan were present. POSSIBLE WITNESS:
 After the mass party, a cross was planted
 Gines de Mafra-Ambrosiana Codex
on a summit of a little hill. The First Mass
marked the birth of Roman Catholicism in RECENT EVIDENCES
the Philippines.
 1976-BCHFI’s 28 new gathered evidences
WHY IN BUTUAN: and 10 newly discovered balanghai boats in
BUTUAN TRADITION: THE 3 CENTURY TRADITION Masao River
THE MONUMENT ERECTED NEAR THE MOUTH OF  Statement of Gregorio ZaidE
AGUSAN RIVER WHICH HAS AN INSCRIPTION  Archaeologist examining the coordinates
 Yale Codex
- To the Immortal Magellan: the People of
Butuan with their Parish Priest and the CONCLUSION
Spaniards resident therein, to
commemorate his arrival and the  Mazaua is located 9 and 1/3 latitude, south
celebration of the First Mass on this site on of Seylani which is 10 latitude. This could
the 8th of April 1521. Erected in 1872, under mean that it can be nearly located Butuan
the District Governor Jose Ma. Carvallo. City or in the municipality of Agusan del
- The date of the First Mass may be an error Norte.
due to the use of Gregorian Calendar in the
WHY IN LIMASAWA:
translation of the original date
- Labor Evangelista (Father Francisco  Limasawa is a small island now occupied by
Colin)- The First Mass, Solemn planting of the province of Leyte
the cross and the formal taking possession  Historically important because Ferdinand
of the Islands in the name of the Crown of Magellan left after first landing and resting in
Castile happened in Butuan on Easter Homonhon in March 1521
Sunday of 1521.
- Historia de Mindanao y Jolo (Father IMPORTANT EVENTS TOOK IN LIMASAWA
ISLAND:
Francsico Combes)- Magellan landed on
Butuan and planted the cross in a solemn • Ferdinand Magellan’s alliance with Raha
ceremony. Information about the First Mass Kulambu
is not mentioned.
• The First Mass
- Colin and Combes both pictured that
Magellan visited Butuan and Limasawa. • According to Francisco Albo’s
account, he didn’t mention the First
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
Mass in the Philippines but only the
 Name of the Place planting of the cross.
 The exception traveled to 20 to 25 leagues
WITNESS
from Homonhon, the first landing point
 The latitude position
 Antonio Pigafetta wrote Mazaua as the
name of the island.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCES

 The evidence of Albo’s Logbook 1

 The evidence of Pigafetta
 Summary of Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta
 Confirmatory evidence from Legazpi
Expedition
 Monograph by Fr.Bernard in 1981
 Study of William Henry Scott in 1982

RECENT EVIDENCES

 RA 2733

CONCLUSION

 Limasawa is the original site of the First

Catholic Mass in the Philippines, according
to a 2 year study of National Historical
Commission in the Philippines (NHCP}.
(August 24,2019. ABS CBN News)

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
 The NHCP Board of Commissioners signed
Resolution No. 2 last July 15 adopting the
report submitted by the investigating panel
on the issue surrounding the 1521 Easter
Sunday Mass in the Philippines
 The national historical commission also
studied the 1895 journal articles of
historians Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and
Pablo Pastells, SJ, which revisited
Pigafetta’s accounts and emphasized that
Limasawa, not Butuan, as the site of the
first Catholic mass in the country.