Republic of the Philippines

RAMON MAGSAYSAY TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

REPORTERS: Martha Jelle A. Deliquina and Ethel D. Garcia

Catholic Mass Take Place in The Philippines”?

The First Catholic Mass

Introduction.

There is a controversy regarding the site of the first Mass ever celebrated on Philippine

soil.Pigaffeta tells us that it was held on Easter Sunday,31 March 1521,on an island called,”Mazaua”.Two

native chieftains were in attendance ;the Rajah of Mazaua and the Rajah of Butuan.After the mass ,the party

went up a little hill and planted a wooden cross upon its summit.

The subject of controversy is the identity of this place ,which Pigaffeta calls “Mazaua”.There are two

conflicting claims as to its identity;one school of thought points to the small island south of Leyte ,Which in

the map called Limasawa ;the other school rejects that claim and points instead to the beach called “Masao”

at the mouth of the Agusan River in Northern Mindanao ,near what was then the village (now the city )of

Butuan.

Butuan has long been believed as the site of the first mass.In fact,this has been the case for three

centuries,culminating in the erection of a monument in 1872 near Agusan River,which commemorates the

expedition’s arrival and celebration of mass on 8 April 1521.The Butuan claim has been based on a rather

elementary reading of primary sources from the event.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century, together with the

increasing scholarship on the history of the Philippines,a more nuanced reading of the available evidence

was made,which brought to light more considerations in going against the more accepted interpretation of

the first mass in the Philippines,made both by Spanish and Filipino scholars.
It must be noted that there are only two primary sources that historians refer to in identifying the site

of the first mass.One is the log kept by Francisco Albo,a pilot of one of Magellan’s ship Victoria after they

circumnavigated the world.The other ,and the more complete,was the account of Antonio Pigafetta,Primo

Viaggio intorno al mondo(First Voyage around the world).

Primary source:Albo’s Log

1. On the 16th of March(1521) as they sailed in westerly course from Ladrones, they saw land towards the

northwest; but owing to many shallow places they did not approach it it. They found later that its name was

Yunagan.

2. They went instead that same day southwards to another small island named Suluan, and there they

anchored. There they saw some canoes but these fled at the Spaniard’s approach. This island was at 9 and

two-thirds degrees North latitude.

3. Departing from those islands, they sailed westward to an uninhabited island of “Gada” where they took in

a supply of wood and water. The sea around that island was free from shallows.

(Albo does not give the latitude of this island, but from Pigafetta’s testimony, this seems to be the

“Acquada” or Homonhon, at 10 degrees North latitude.)

4. From that island they sailed westwards towards a large island names Seilani that was inhabited and was

known to have gold. (Seilani – or, as Pigafetta calls it, “Ceylon” – was the island of Leyte.)

5. Sailing southwards along the coast of that large island of Seilani, they turned southwest to a small island

called “Mazava.” That island is also at a latitude of 9 and two-thirds degrees North.

6. The people of that island of Mazava were very good.There the Spaniards planted a cross upon a

mountain-top, and from there they were shown three islands to the west and southwest, where they

were told there was much gold. “They showed us how the gold was gathered, which came in small

pieces like peas and lentils.”

7. From Mazava they sailed northwards again towards Seilani. They followed the coast of Seilani in a

northwesterly direction,ascending up to 10 degrees of latitude where they saw three small islands.
8. From there they sailed westwards some ten leagues, and there they saw three islets, where they dropped

anchor for the night. In the morning they sailed southwest some 12 leagues,down to a latitude of 10 and one-

third degree.There they entered a channel between two islands,one of which was called “Matan” and the

other “Subu”.

9.They sailed down that channel and then turned westward and anchored at the town (la villa) of Subu were

they stayed many days and obtained provisions and entered into a peace-pact with the local king.

10.The town of Subu was on east-west direction with the islands of Suluan and Mazava.But between

Mazava and Subu,there were so many shallows that the boats could not go westward directly but has to go

(as they did) in a round-about way.

Primary Source: Pigaffeta’s Testimony on the Route of Magellan’s expedition

1.Saturday,16 March 1521-Magellan’s expedition sighted a “high land “ named “Zamal” which was some

300 leagues westward of Ladrones (now the Marianas) Islands.

2.Sunday,March 17-“The following day” after sighting Zamal island,they landed on another island which

was uninhabited” and which lay “to the right” of the above-mentioned island of “Zamal”.There they set up

two tents for the sick members of the crew and had a sow killed for them.The name of this island was

“Humunu” (Homonhon).This island was located at 10 degrees North latitude.

3.On that same day(Sunday,march 17),Magellan named that entire archipelago “The Island of Saint

Lazarus”.

4.Monday,March 18-In the afternoon of their second day on that island, they saw a boat coming towards

them with nine men in it. An exchange of gifts was effected. Magellan asked for food supplies and the men

went away, promising to bring rice and other supplies in “four days.”

5. There were two springs of water on that island of homonhon. Also they saw there some indications that

there was gold in these islands. Consequently Magellan renamed the island and called it the “Watering Place

of Good Omen” (Acquada la di bouni segnialli).

supplies.

7. Magellan’s expedition stayed eight days at Homonhon: from Sunday, March 17, to the Monday of the

following week, March 25.

8. Monday, March 25 – In the afternoon, the expedition weighed anchor and left the island of Homonhon. In

the ecclesiastical calendar, this day (March 25) was the feast-day of the incarnation, also called the feast of

the Annunciation and therefore “Our Lady’s Day.” On this day, as they were about to weigh anchor, an

accident happened to Pigafetta: he fell into the water but was rescued. He attributed his narrow escape from

death as grace obtained through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast-day.

9. The route taken by the expedition after leaving Homonhon was “toward the west southwest, between four

islands: namely, Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson and Albarien.” Very probably “Cenalo” is a misspelling in

the Italian manuscript for what Pigafetta in his map calls “Ceilon” and Albo calls “Seilani”: namely the

island of Leyte. (i.e., “Ceylon”). On the otherhand, Hibuson(Pigafetta’s Ibusson) is an island east of Leyte’s

southern tip.

Thus, it is easy to see what Pigafetta meant by sailing “toward the west southwest” past those islands. They

left Homonhon sailing westward towards Leyte,then followed the Leyte coast southward,passing between

the island of Hibuson on their portside and Hiunanghan Bay on their starboard ,and then continued

southward,then turning westward to “Mazaua”

10.Thursday,March 28-In the morning of Holy Thursday they anchoredoff an island wehre the previous

night they had seen the light or a bonfire.It is twenty-five leagues from the Acquada ,and is

called,”Mazaua”.

11.They remained seven days on Mazaua Island.

12.Thursday,April 4-They left Mazaua,bound for Subu.They were guided thither by the King of Mazaua

who sailed in his own boat.their route took them past five “islands” namely:

Ceylon,Bohol,Canighan,Baibai,and Gatighan”.
13.At Gatighan,they sailed westward to the three islands of the Camotes Group,namely,Poro,Pasihan and

Ponson.

14.From the Camotes Islands they sailed southwards towards “Zubu”.

15.Sunday,April 7-At noon they entered the harbour of Zubu.(Cebu).

Primary Source: Pigafetta and Seven Days in Mazaua.

1.Thursday,March 28-In the morning they anchored near an island where they had seen a light at the night

before a small boat came with eight natives,to whom Magellan threw some trinkets as presents.The natives

paddled away ,but two hours later two large boats(balanghai) came,in one of which the native King sat

under an awning of mats.At Magellan’s invitation some of the natives went up the Spanish ships,but the

native King remained seated in his boat.An exchange of gift was effected.

2.Friday,March 29-“Next day,holy Friday,” Magellan sent his slave interpreter ashore in a small boat to ask

the king if he could provide the expedition with food supplies,and to say that they had come as friends and

not as enemies.In reply the king himself came in a boatwith six or eight men,and this time went up

Magellan’s Ship and the two men embraced. Another exchange of gifts are made. The native king and his

companions returned ashore, bringing with them two members of Magellan’s expedition as guests for the

night. One of the two was Pigafetta.

3. Saturday, March 30 – Pigafetta and his companion had spent the previous evening feasting and drinking

with the native king and his son. Pigafetta deplored the fact that, although it was Good Friday, they had to

eat meat. The following morning (Saturday) Pigafetta and his companion took leave of their hosts and

returned to the ships.

4. Sunday, March 31 – “Early in the morning of Sunday, the last of March and Easter day.” Magellan sent

priest ashore with some men to prepare for the Mass. Later in the morning Magellan landed with some fifty

men and Mass was celebrated, after which a cross was venerated. Magella and the Spaniards returned to the

ship for the noon-day meal, but in the afternoon they returned ashore to plant the cross on the summit of the
highest hill. In attendance both at the Mass and at the planting of the cross were the king of Mazaua and the

king of Butuan.

5.Sunday, March 31 – On that same afternoon, while on the summit of the highest hill, Magellan asked the

two kings which ports he should go to in order to obtain more abundant supplies of food than were available

in that island. They replied that there were three portsto choose from: Ceylon,Zubu, and Calagan. Of the

three, Zubu was the port with the most trade. Magellan then said that he wished to go to Zubu and to depart

the following morning. He asked for someone to guide him thither. The kings replied that the pilots would

be available “any time.’ But later that evening the king of Mazaua changed his mind and said that he would

himself conduct Magellan to Zubu but that he would first have to bring the haevest in. He asked Magellan to

send him men to help with the harvest.

6. Monday, April 1 – Magellan sent men ashore to help with the harvest, but no work was done that day

because the two kings was sleeping off their drinking bout the night before.

7. Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3 – Work on the harvest during the “ next to days.” i.e., Tuesday

and Wednesday, the 2nd and 3rd of April.

8. Thursday, April 4 – They leave Mazaua, bound for Cebu.

Using the primary sources available, Jesuit priest Miguel A. Bernad in his work Butuan or Limasawa: The

Site of the first Mass in the Philippines; A Reexamination of Evidence (1981) lays down the argument that

in the Pigafetta account, a crucial aspect of Butuan was not mentioned – the river. Butuan is a riverine

settlement, situated on the Agusan River. The beach of Masao is in the delta od said river. It is a curious

omission in theaccount of the river, which makes part of a distinct characteristic of Butuan’s geography that

seemed to be too important to be missed.