THE SITE OF

THE FIRST
MASS
POSSIBLE PLACES OF FIRST MASS

• LIMASAWA
• BUTUAN
• BOLINAO, PANGASINAN
• HOMOHON ISLAND
LIMASAWA
• 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".

• TODAY, THIS SITE IS WIDELY BELIEVED BY MANY TO BE LIMASAWA AT

THE TIP OF SOUTHERN LEYTE, THOUGH THIS IS CONTESTED BY SOME
WHO ASSERT THAT THE FIRST MASS WAS INSTEAD HELD AT MASAO,
BUTUAN.
LANDING ON PHILIPPINE SHORES

WHEN FERDINAND MAGELLAN AND HIS EUROPEAN CREW SAILED

FROM SAN LUCAR DE BARRAMEDA FOR AN EXPEDITION TO SEARCH
FOR SPICES, THESE EXPLORERS LANDED ON THE PHILIPPINES AFTER
THEIR VOYAGE FROM OTHER PROXIMATE AREAS. ON MARCH 28,
1521, WHILE AT SEA, THEY SAW A BONFIRE WHICH TURNED OUT TO
BE MAZAUA (BELIEVED TO BE TODAY'S LIMASAWA) WHERE THEY
ANCHORED.
BLOOD COMPACT

THE ISLAND'S SOVEREIGN RULER WAS RAJAH SIAIU. WHEN MAGELLAN AND
COMRADES SET FOOT ON THE GROUNDS OF MAZAUA, HE BEFRIENDED THE
RAJAH TOGETHER WITH HIS BROTHER RAJAH KULAMBU OF BUTUAN. IN THOSE
DAYS, IT WAS CUSTOMARY AMONG THE INDIGENOUS—AND IN MOST OF
SOUTHEAST ASIA—TO SEAL FRIENDSHIP WITH A BLOOD COMPACT. ON
INSTIGATION OF MAGELLAN WHO HAD HEARD THE MALAYAN TERM FOR IT,
CASI CASI, THE NEW FRIENDS PERFORMED THE RITUAL. THIS WAS THE FIRST
RECORDED BLOOD COMPACT BETWEEN FILIPINOS AND SPANIARDS. GIFTS
WERE EXCHANGED BY THE TWO PARTIES WHEN THE CELEBRATION HAD ENDED.
FIRST MASS

ON MARCH 31, 1521, AN EASTER SUNDAY, MAGELLAN ORDERED A MASS

TO BE CELEBRATED WHICH WAS OFFICIATED BY FATHER PEDRO
VALDERRAMA, THE ANDALUSION CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET, THE ONLY PRIEST
THEN. CONDUCTED NEAR THE SHORES OF THE ISLAND, THE FIRST HOLY MASS
MARKED THE BIRTH OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN THE PHILIPPINES. COLAMBU
AND SIAIU WERE THE FIRST NATIVES OF THE ARCHIPELAGO, WHICH WAS NOT
YET NAMED "PHILIPPINES" UNTIL THE EXPEDITION OF RUY LOPEZ DE
VILLALOBOS IN 1543, TO ATTEND THE MASS AMONG OTHER NATIVE
INHABITANTS.
PROCLAMATION OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE

ON JUNE 19, 1960, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2733, CALLED

THE LIMASAWA LAW, WAS ENACTED WITHOUT EXECUTIVE
APPROVAL ON JUNE 19, 1960.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
HEREBY DECLARED A NATIONAL SHRINE TO COMMEMORATE THE
BIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES. MAGALLANES IS EAST OF
THE ISLAND OF LIMASAWA.
THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL INSTITUTE (NHI) HAS ALREADY REACHED
A CONCLUSION AFTER A TWO-YEAR STUDY. IN 1996, IT REAFFIRMED
THE POPULAR BELIEF PROPELLED BY REPUBLIC ACT 2733 THAT THE
FIRST HOLY MASS WAS CELEBRATED IN LIMASAWA ISLAND ON
MARCH 31, 1521.THE NHI CITED THE MEMOIRS OF ANTONIO
PIGAFETTA, WHO CHRONICLED THE EXPEDITION OF FERDINAND
MAGELLAN, AS “THE ONLY CREDIBLE PRIMARY SOURCE THAT YIELDS
THE BEST EVIDENCE OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN
MASS ON PHILIPPINE SOIL.” THIS ISSUE, HOWEVER, REMAINS
DEBATABLE DESPITE THE PRONOUNCEMENT FROM THE NHI.
Carlos_V_Francisco_First_Mass_in_the_Philippines
BUTUAN
 SOME FILIPINO HISTORIANS HAVE LONG CONTESTED THE IDEA THAT
LIMASAWA WAS THE SITE OF THE FIRST CATHOLIC MASS IN THE
COUNTRY. HISTORIAN SONIA ZAIDE IDENTIFIED MASAO (ALSO MAZAUA)
IN BUTUAN AS THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MASS.THE BASIS OF
ZAIDE'S CLAIM IS THE DIARY OF ANTONIO PIGAFETTA, CHRONICLER OF
MAGELLAN'S VOYAGE. IN 1995 THEN CONGRESSWOMAN CHING PLAZA OF
AGUSAN DEL NORTE-BUTUAN CITY FILED A BILL IN CONGRESS CONTESTING
THE LIMASAWA HYPOTHESIS AND ASSERTING THE "SITE OF THE FIRST MASS" WAS
BUTUAN. THE PHILIPPINE CONGRESS REFERRED THE MATTER TO THE NATIONAL
HISTORICAL INSTITUTE FOR IT TO STUDY THE ISSUE AND RECOMMEND A
HISTORICAL FINDING. THEN NHI CHAIR DR. SAMUEL K. TAN REAFFIRMED
LIMASAWA AS THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS.
BOLINAO
 ODORIC OF PORDENONE, AN ITALIAN AND FRANCISCAN FRIAR AND
MISSIONARY EXPLORER, IS HEARTILY BELIEVED BY MANY PANGASINENSES TO
HAVE CELEBRATED THE FIRST MASS IN PANGASINAN IN AROUND 1324 THAT
WOULD HAVE PREDATED THE MASS HELD IN 1521 BY FERDINAND MAGELLAN.
A MARKER IN FRONT OF BOLINAO CHURCH STATES THAT THE FIRST MASS ON
PHILIPPINE SOIL WAS CELEBRATED IN BOLINAO BAY IN 1324 BY
A FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY, BLESSED ODORICO.

HOWEVER, THERE IS SCHOLARLY DOUBT THAT ODORIC WAS EVER AT THE

PHILIPPINES. ULTIMATELY, THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL INSTITUTE LED BY ITS
CHAIR AMBETH OCAMPO RECOGNIZED THE HISTORICAL RECORDS
OF LIMASAWA IN SOUTHERN LEYTE AS THE VENUE OF THE FIRST MASS, HELD
ON MARCH 31, 1521.
THE MARKER READS:
BORN IN PORDINONE (ITALY) AROUND 1275 A.D., FATHER ODORICO, A
COURAGEOURS AND RELIGIOUS FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY PIONEERED THE SPREAD OF THE
GOSPEL IN ASIA AND CHINA. HE TRAVELED ALWAYS BAREFOOTED AMONG
UNDESCRIBABLE DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS, EXHAUSTING HIS ENERGIES IN THE SERVICE OF
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

IN 1324, AFTER LANDING AND TAKING REFUGE IN BOLINAO PANGASINAN DURING A

STORMY WEATHER, FATHER ODORICO CELEBRATED A THANKSGIVING MASS IN HONOR
OF THEIR SAFE JOURNEY AND HIS MISSION. HE ALSO INDOCTRINATED AND BAPTIZED MANY
OF THE MALAY IMMIGRANTS IN BOLINAO.
HE RETURNED HOME TOUDINE (FRIULI) ITALY AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS MISSION. HE DIED A
HOLY DEATH ON JANUARY 14, 1331. HIS PRECIOUS REMAINS ARE KEPT IN AN ARTISTIC
TOMB OF THE PARISH CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL IN UDINE (ITALY).
HOMOHON
 TOMAS “BUDDY” GOMEZ 3RD, A ONE-TIME PRESS SECRETARY OF
PRESIDENT CORY, DISAGREED WITH THE NHI ON NAMING LIMASAWA AS THE
TRUE VENUE AND CALLED FOR THE CORRECTION OF THIS “LONG-STANDING
HISTORICAL ERROR.” NO, HE DOESN’T CONTEST THAT PIGAFETTA HAD INDEED
WRITTEN THAT A MASS WAS HELD IN LIMASAWA ON THAT EASTER SUNDAY,
MARCH 31, 1521,
“THERE US, HOWEVER, ON INESCAPABLE AND IRREFUTABLE FACT:
“PIGAFETTA NEVER SAID THAT THE EASTER MASS IN LIMASAWA WAS THE
‘FIRST.’ NEITHER DID ANY OF THE SURVIVORS OF MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION,”
BUDDY ADDED IN A POST TO HIS FACEBOOK FRIENDS, INCLUDING THIS
COLUMNIST.
 HE NOTED THAT WHILE A JESUIT WROTE IN 1663 THAT THE
FIRST MASS WAS HELD IN LIMASAWA, HE CONSIDERED THIS
AS A MERE OPINION AND NOT A FACT. HE LAMENTED THAT
SUBSEQUENT “COPYCAT” HISTORIANS ENTRENCHED THIS
“HISTORICAL ERROR.”
“AN UNRECORDED FIRST MASS, OF NECESSITY, COMES
SPRINGING OUT INTO MORE CREDIBLE CONTENTION,”
BUDDY WROTE.
 HE WONDERED IF A MASS WAS CELEBRATED ON PHILIPPINE
SHORES BEFORE THE 1521 EASTER SUNDAY. HE CITED RECORDS
SHOWING THAT MAGELLAN STAYED IN HOMONHON (NOW A PART
OF SAMAR ISLAND) FOR EIGHT DAYS, INCLUDING MARCH 24
WHICH WAS PALM SUNDAY.

“IS EASTER SUNDAY MASS EVER CELEBRATED WITHOUT BEING

PRECEDED BY MASS ON A PALM SUNDAY,” HE ASKED. HE THEN
ARGUED THAT THE FIRST MASS COULD ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN HELD
NOT IN LIMASAWA OR MASAU BUT IN HOMONHON.
SO WHERE IS THE
REAL LOCATION
OF THE FIRST
MASS?
REFERENCES
• AMAZING BUTUAN (2009). SITE OF THE FIRST MASS, AFTER 488 YEARS CONTROVERSY CONTINUES. RETRIEVED
FROM HTTP://AMAZINGBUTUAN.BLOGSPOT.COM/2009/04/SITE-OF-FIRST-MASS-AFTER-488-YEARS.HTML
• 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/VIEW/582/579
• DANAO, E. L. (2015). WHERE WAS THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES HELD?. RETRIEVED FROM THE MANILA
TIMES: HTTP://WWW.MANILATIMES.NET/FIRST-MASS-PHILIPPINES-HELD/157730/
• HOLY SPIRIT CATHOLIC SCHOOL (N.D.) ANTONIO PIGAFETTA'S JOURNAL. RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://WWW.HOLYSPIRIT-
AL.COM/OURPAGES/AUTO/2011/4/20/41202190/MAGELLEN.PDF
• PHILIPPINES TO GO (N.D.). REVOLVY (N.D.). ST. JAMES THE GREAT PARISH CHURCH IN BOLINAO, PANGASINAN.
RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://WWW.PHILIPPINESTOGO.COM/ST-JAMES-THE-GREAT-CHURCH-BOLINAO/
• PIGAFETTA, A. (1522). THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1493-1898, VOLUME 33. OHIO: THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
• REVOLVY (N.D.). FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES. RETRIEVED
FROM HTTPS://WWW.REVOLVY.COM/MAIN/INDEX.PHP?S=FIRST+MASS+IN+THE+PHILIPPINES