Where do you think the first mass in the Philippines really took

place?

- 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 here by declared a national shrine to

commemorate the birth of Christianity 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". When Ferdinand Magellan and his

European crew sailed from san lucar de barrameda fora expedition

to search for spices, these explores landed on the Philippines

after their voyage from other proximate areas. Zadie presented

the evidence for Masao rather than Limasawa as the site of the

first recorded mass in the Philippines. First, in all primary

sources including the diary of Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler

of Magellan’s voyage, the name of the place was mazaua.