The Site of the First

Mass in the Philippines

REPORTER
MARK JOHN CABALONGA
Pigafetta's account

The first mass was held on Easter

Sunday, March 31,1521, on an
Island called "Mazaua".

Two native chieftain were in

attendance: Rajah of Mazaua and
the Rajah of Butuan.

After the mass, the party went up

a little hill and planted a cross
upon its summit.
FR. FRANCISCO COLLIN' s &
FRANCISCO COMBE'S ACCOUNT
The site of the first mass was in Butuan,
Agusan del Norte (17th To 19th Century)

The 2 priests worked as missionaries and

wrote their accounts based on 2nd hand
information.

Their account has strong influence over

succeeding historians who quoted their
narratives.
 COLIN'S ACCOUNT

It is Insufficient.

It is valuable as it represented the first mass

celebration to have taken place in Butuan on
Easter Sunday of 1521 with the solemn planting
of the cross and the formal taking or possession of
the island in the name of the Crown of Castile.
COMBES' ACCOUNT

Magellan landed at butuan and planted the cross in a

solemn ceremony.

There was no mention of the first mass but the other

two events in Pigafetta's account were mentioned :
planting of the cross & formal claiming of the
archipelago.
THE EVEDENCE IN FAVOR OF LIMASAWA
The evidence of Albo's logbook
The evidence of Pigafetta
Summary of evidence of Albo
and Pigafetta
Confirmatory evidence from the
Legaspi Expedition
ALBO' S LOGBOOK
Mazaua lies at latitude of 9 and two -thirds degrees North & it
fits the location of the small island of Limasawa south of leyte.
Said island's southern tip is at 90 54' N.

Only the planting of the cross upon mountain top which could
be seen 3 islands to the west & southwest was mentioned.

Above description fits Limasawa, as no islands could be seen to

the south and southwest of butuan but only towards the
north.
PIGAFETTA'S ACCOUNT
The testimony as regards the route taken by the
expedition from the Pacific Ocean to Cebu.
The evidence of Pigafetta's Map.
The presence of two native kings.
The events of the seven days at the island of
"Maxaua".
An argument from comission.
ALBO & PIGAFETTA'S ACCOUNT
The itinerary of Magellan's exedition show that
they did not go to Butuan or any other point
on the Mindanao Coast.

The survivors of the expedition went to

Mindanao later, but ater Magellan's death.
legaspi's expedition
Mazaua was confirmed to be an island
near Leyte & Panaon while Butuan was on
the island of Mindanao.

The two were entirely different places

and in no way identical.
 Ramusio and the Centuries-
old Butuan tradition

Among pro- Butuan set of evidences that the panel

examined were the numerous accounts written by
non- eyewitnesses, decades after the 1521 Easter
Sunday mass.
1. 1581 Edict of Bishop Domingo Salazar, the Anales ecclesiasticos
de Filipinas 1574 - 1683.
2. 1886 Breve resena de diocesiss de Cebu
3. Fr. Francisco Colin's Labor evagelica: Ministerios apostolicos de
los obreros de la Compana de Jesus (1663).
4. Fr. Francisco Combes' Historia de Mindanao y Jolo (1667).
5. Fray Gaspar de San Agustin's Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas
(1698).
6. Monument in Magallanes, Agusan del Norte.
7. Other accounts written by American authors in the early part of
the 20th century.
 Ramusio and the Centuries-
old Butuan tradition

The historiography of the Butuan was carefully analized

by Miguel Bernard S.J in his article in Kinaadman
enttled "Butuan or Limasawa? The Site of the First
Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamibation of the
Evidences" and by William Henry Scott in an article in
the same journal entitled "Why then the Butuan
Tradition?"
1. The traditon was the result of the reliance of early historians on Gian
Battista Ramusio's 3- volume Delle navigation et viaggi (1550) and
Maximilianus Transylvanus' De Moluccis Insulis.
2. Ramusio and Transylvanus recounted the voyage of the Magellan -
Elcano expedition based on the accounts of the survivors.
3. It became the most dominant and the authoritative source of
information and were used as basis of recounting some events
connected to the first circumnavigation of the world like the first mass in
the Philippines.
4. Scott agreed with historian Mauro Garcia that Ramusio's work historian
Mauro Garcia that was a garbled and mutilated summary of Pigafetta's
original account. It was Ramusio, according to Scott, who mentioned
"Buthuan" as the site of the first mass which was picked up by succeedng
authors and became a long standing tradition.
 Pigafetta and the limasawa
tradition

Pigafetta later composed a more comprehensive version of

the voyage but it remained unknown to many scholars until
Carlo Amoretti published it in 1800(Andrea Da Mosta
transcription).
Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Pablo Pastells, SJ were the
first two scholars who revisited the 1521 Eater Sunday
Mass using the latest and more comprehensive account of
Pigafetta that became available only during their time.
 1. Pardo de Tavera wrote in El Comercio on 31 March 1895, he
stated that the Butuan tradition was mistake.
2. Pastells on his part made a similar remark questioning the
veracity if the Butuan claim on 1521 Easter Sunday mass. While
working on his edition of Colin's Labor evangelica, he had the
opportunity to study Pigafetta and Albo and on his footnote on
Colin's account of the first mass,
Pastells wrote:
"Magellan did not go to Butuan. Rather from the island of
Limasawa he proceeded to Cebu."
 Pigafetta and the limasawa
tradition

Robertson published a translation of the Pigafetta manuscript

in 1906 using the original Ambrosiana Codex.
He wrote that according to Pigafetta, the 1521 Easter Sunday
mass was held in an island called Mazaua.
Robertson provided a footnote that the present name of the
place is Limasawa.
In 1969, Skelton also came out with an English translation of
the Nancy Condex and noted that the mass took place in an
island which Pigafetta called Mazzaua. He also identified
Limasawa as its current name.
Pardo de Travera's correction from the Da Mosta
transcription, Pastells' footnote on Colin,
Robertson's translation of the Ambrosiana Codex,
and Skelton's translation of the Nancy Codex may
be considered the main reasons for the shift in
scholarly opinion reguarding the site of the 1521
Easter Sunday Mass.
 LIMASAWA ISLAND,
SOUTHERN LEYTE, BE
SUSTAINED AS THE SITE
OF THE 1521 EASTER
MASS