SITE OF THE FIRST MASS IN THE

PHILIPPINES

Masao (Butuan)
or
Limasawa (Southern Leyte)
According to Pigafetta

• The site of the first mass was on the island of

“Mazaua”
• Easter Sunday, 31st of March 1521
• Two native chieftains were in attendance: Rajah of
Mazaua and Rajah of Butuan,
• After the mass, a wooden cross was planted on the
hill upon its summit
Masao
• The Butuan Tradition

Butuan claim rests upon a tradition that was

almost unanimous and unbroken for three
centuries, namely the 17th, 18th, and the 19th
century.
The date given in the First Mass was April 8,
1521.
A monument was erected in 1872 as to
strengthen the tradition.
Masao
• “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.”
 Masao
• 17th Century
Father Francisco Colin S.J (Labor evangelica)
“On Easter Day, in the territory of Butuan, the
first Mass ever offered in these parts was
celebrated and a cross planted.”

Father Francisco Combes S.J (Historia de

Mindanao y Jolo)
“Magellan landed at Butuan and there planted the
cross in a solemn ceremony.”

Comparison of both accounts (Colin and Combes)

Masao
• 18th Century

One passage in Colin which seems to

have been misunderstood, and misled
some later writers.
Fray Juan de la Concepcion, one of the
major historians who made the error
related to Colin.
Masao
• 19th Century

Fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga

(Historia de Filipinas)
The Butuan tradition was taken for
granted since misstatements in the
passages are numerous if compared to
the account of Pigafetta.
Shift of opinion from masao to
limasawa
• Emma Blair and James
Alexander Robertson
• Father Pablo Pastells S.J
 The rediscovery of
Pigafetta’s account and
Albo’s log book are the
reasons of the shift of
opinion.
• Trinidad Pardo de Tavera
and Jayme de Veyra
Limasawa evidences

1. The evidence of Albo’s Log-

Book
Limasawa evidences
1. The evidence of Pigafetta

a) Pigafetta’s testimony regarding the route;

b) The evidence of Pigafetta’s map;
c) The two native king;
d) The seven days at “Mazaua”;
e) An argument from omission
Limasawa evidences
• Ferdinand Magellan anchored off the
eastern shore of a small island called
Mazaua. There they stayed a week,
during which on Easter Sunday the
celebrated Mass and planted the
cross on the summit of the highest
hill.
Limasawa evidences
• The island of Mazaua lies at a
latitude of nine and two-thirds
degrees North.
• It is located on the south of Leyte,
and its latitude correspond to the
position and latitude of the island of
Limasawa, whose southern top lies at
9 degrees and 54 minutes North.
Limasawa evidences
• From the island of Mazaua, the expedition sailed
northwestwards through the Canigao channel
between Bohol and Leyte, then northwards parallel
to the eastern coast of this latter island, then
they sailed westward to the Camotes Group and
from there southwestwards to Cebu.

• No point in that itinerary did the expedition of

Magellan go to Butuan. The survivors of the
expedition did go to Mindanao later, but after
Magellan’s death.
Limasawa evidences
• Pilots of the Legazpi Expedition
understood that Mazaua was an island
near Leyte and Panaon; Butuan was on
the island of Mindanao. The two were
different places and in no wise
identical
Limasawa
• The most complete and reliable account of the Magellan
expedition into Philippine shores in 1521 is that of Antonio
Pigafetta which is deemed as the only credible primary
source of reports on the celebration of the first Christian
Mass on Philippine soil.
• James Robertson's English translation of the original Italian
manuscript of Pigaffeta's account is most reliable for being
''faithful'' to the original text as duly certified by the
University of the Philippines' Department of European
Language.
• Pigafetta's Mazaua, the site of the first Christian Mass held
on Philippine soil, is an island lying off the southwestern tip
of Leyte.
References
• Arnaiz, J. (2000, April 15). First Mass Controversy: It’s
Limasawa. Retrieved from
http://firstcircumnavigator.tripod.com/limasawa.htm.
• Bernad, M. A., (2002). Butuan or Limasawa: The Site of the
First Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of the
Evidence. Retrieved from
https://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/index.php/budhi/article/vie
w/582/579.
• Blair, E., Robertson, J. (1906). The Philippine Islands Vol.
XXXIII 1519-1522. Retrieved from
www.gutenberg.org/files/42884/42884-h/42884-h.htm.