WHERE WAS THE FIRST MASS HELD? Masao or Limasawa? WHERE WAS THE FIRST KINGDOM? Masao or Limasawa?

How Limasawa got its name?

Rajah Kolambu, the Rajah of the Island has 5 wives, that is why the place was called Limasawa
which means lima asawa (5 wives).

First Mass

The first mass in the Philippines was celebrated in Limasawa Island on Easter Sunday, March
31, 1521. It was when Ferdinand Magellan landed on the said island in the midst of his voyage
around the world.
Early in the morning, Magellan sent ashore Father Pedro de Valderrama with some men to
prepare for a mass and to inform Rajah Kolambu, through an interpreter, that he and his men
would land and to attend the mass.
Rajah Kolambu agreed by sending some gifts.
As Magellan and his troops approached the shore, there was a salvo of six guns was fired as
a sign of peace. Rajah Kolambu and Si-Agu embraced Magellan and they walked together to
the place of worship together with the sailors.
Throughout the mass, the Rajahs remained on their knees with clasped hands. At the elevation,
the ships fired all their artillery in response to musket signal from the shore.
Source: Philippine Historical Committee/Limasawa Historian

First Mass in the Philippine

A detail of Carlos V. Francisco's First Mass in the Philippines painting

The first Catholic mass in the Philippines was on Easter Sunday of March 31, 1521 officiated by Father Pedro de
Valderrama in the shore of a town islet named as Limasawa in the tip of Southern Leyte.[1]Limasawa is dubbed as
the birthplace of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.

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 Holy First 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.[3][5]

Planting of the cross

In the afternoon of the same day, Magellan instructed his comrades to plant a large wooden cross on the top of the
hill overlooking the sea.[6] Magellan's chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, who recorded the event said:
"After the cross was erected in position, each of us repeated a Pater Noster and an Ave Maria, and adored the
cross; and the kings [Colambu and Siaiu] did the same."[7]
Magellan then took ownership of the islands where he had landed in the name of King Charles V which he had
named earlier on March 16 Archipelago of Saint Lazarus because it was the day of the saint when the Armada
reached the archipelago.[3][5]

Proclamation of the national shrine

On June 19, 1960, Republic Act No. 2733, called the Limasawa Law, was enacted without being signed by the
President of the Philippines. 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 Philippine.[8] Magallanes is east of the island of Limasawa. In 1984 Imelda Marcos had a
multi-million pesos Shrine of the First Holy Mass built, an edifice made of steel, bricks and polished concrete, and
erected on top of a hill overlooking barangay Magallanes, Limasawa. A super typhoon completely wiped this out just
a few months later. Another shrine was inaugurated in 2005.[9]
Limasawa celebrates the historic and religious coming of the Spaniards every March 31 with a cultural presentation
and anniversary program dubbed as Sinugdan, meaning "beginning.".[10] Yet this has no reference at all to a Catholic
mass being held on March 31, 1521.

Historical controversies
Masao
Other Filipino historians has long contested the idea of Limasawa as 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.[6] 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.[11] 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.[12]

1. ↑ Valencia, Linda B. "Limasawa: Site of the First Mass". Philippines News Agency. Ops.gov.ph. Archived from the
original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
2. ↑ "A short Philippine History before the 1898 Revolution". Newsletter of the District of Asia. Sspxasia.com. 2001.
Retrieved 2007-11-12.
3. 1 2 3 Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1974). Introduction to Filipino History. Quezon City, Philippines: GAROTECH
Publishing. ISBN 971-10-2409-8.
4. ↑ Mercado, Monina A. (Editor) (1985). Dioramas:a visual history of the Philippines. Metro Manila, Philippines: Ayala
Museum.
5. 1 2 Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1962 by Del Carmen Juliana). Philippine History. Manila, Philippines: Inang Wika Publishing
Co. 1 2 Halili 2004, pp. 73
6. ↑ Pigfetta, Antonio (ca. 1525). Helen, Emma; Robinson, James Alexander, eds. The Philippine Islands 1493-1898.
BiblioBazaar, LLC (published c. 1905). p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4264-6706-6. ISBN 1-4264-6706-0, ISBN 978-1-4264-
6706-6
7. ↑ "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 WAS HELD AS A NATIONAL SHRINE, TO
PROVIDE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS THEREAT, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES". Chanrobles Law Library. June 19, 1960. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
8. ↑ Borrinaga, Rolando O. (2007-04-14). "The right place for disputed first Mass in Limasawa". Inquirer Visayas.
Inquirer.net. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
9. ↑ "Southern Leyte Is Famous For...". Wow Philippines. Tourism.gov.ph. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
10. ↑ Ben Serrano (April 4, 2006). "Butuan reclaims part as first mass venue". sunstar.com.ph. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
11. ↑ Isagani Medina (1981). An Evaluation of the Controversy on the First Mass in the Philippines. Manila: National
Historical Institute. pp. 31–35. ISSN 0115-3927