THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

IN THE PHILIPPINE
A Reexamination of the
Evidence
By: Miguel A. Bernad
 FIRST MASS
• According to Pigafetta, the first mass
happened on March 31, 1521 which is
Eastern Sunday on Southern Leyte.
• Father Pedro de Valderrama held the
mass and The Rajah of Mazaua and
Rajah of Butuan were present.
• After the mass party, a cross was planted
on a summit of a little hill. The First Mass
marked the birth of Roman Catholicism in
the Philippines.
 WHY IN BUTUAN:
Butuan Tradition: the 3 century
tradition
THE MONUMENT ERECTED NEAR
THE MOUTH OF AGUSAN RIVER
WHICH HAS AN INSCRIPTION:
To the Immortal Magellan: the People of
Butuan with their Parish Priest and the
Spaniards resident therein, to
commemorate his arrival and the
celebration of the First Mass on this site
on the 8th of April 1521. Erected in 1872,
under the District Governor Jose Ma.
Carvallo.
• The date of the First Mass may be an error due to the use of
Gregorian Calendar in the translation of the original date
• Labor Evangelista (Father Francisco Colin)- The First Mass,
Solemn planting of the cross and the formal taking possession of
the Islands in the name of the Crown of Castile happened in
Butuan on Easter Sunday of 1521.
• Historia de Mindanao y Jolo (Father Francsico Combes)-
Magellan landed on Butuan and planted the cross in a solemn
ceremony. Information about the First Mass is not mentioned.
• Colin and Combes both pictured that Magellan visited Butuan
and Limasawa.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
• Name of the Place POSSIBLE WITNESS:
• The expedition traveled 20 to 25 leagues
• Gines de Mafra-
from Homonhon, the first landing point
Ambrosiana Codex
• The latitude position
• The geographical feature
• Bonfire
• Balanghai
• House
• Abundance of Gold
• Developed settlement
RECENT EVIDENCES
• 1976-BCHFI’s 28 new gathered evidences and
10 newly discovered balanghai boats in Masao
River
• Statement of Gregorio Zaide
• Archaeologist examining the coordinates
• Yale Codex
CONCLUSION

• Mazaua is located 9 and 1/3 latitude,

south of Seylani which is 10 latitude. This
could mean that it can be nearly located
Butuan City or in the municipality of
Agusan del Norte.
WHY IN LIMASAWA?:
• Limasawa is a small
island now occupied by
the province of Leyte
• Historically important
because Ferdinand
Magellan left after first
landing and resting in
Homonhon in March 1521
IMPORTANT EVENTS TOOK IN LIMASAWA ISLAND:
• Ferdinand Magellan’s alliance with Raha Kulambu
• The First Mass
• According to Francisco Albo’s account, he didn’t mention the
First Mass in the Philippines but only the planting of the
cross.

Witness: Antonio Pigafetta wrote Mazaua as the name of the

island.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
• The evidence of Albo’s
Logbook
• 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.