The Philippine's First Mass

Everyone has their traditions that instills a sense of belongingness. It is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation; it is a loud voice of one’s identity. Consequently, one will take a stance in ensuring that it is well preserved. This is the instance of the still ongoing debate on whether the first mass was held in Butuan or Limasawa, Southern Leyte. During the 17th, 18th, and 19th century, it was believed that the first mass was held in Butuan on the 8th of April, 1521 of the Gregorian Calendar. Their main evidence is the erected monument near the mouth of the Agusan River, built by the Spanish Friar of the Order of the Augustinian Recollects in commemoration of Magellan's arrival and the Site of the Mass (1872). Moreover, their belief is backed by supporting shreds of evidence such as the 17th century-old accounts of the historian priests, Fr. Francisco Colins and Francisco Combes SJ, wherein, according to their accounts, states that Magellan landed in Butuan by the day of Easter and celebrated the First Mass thereafter. The aforementioned accounts were translated from Pigafetta's work and were used to create other accounts to support their claims. Such claims had sustained for 3 centuries and became known as the Butuan Tradition. However, after 3 remarkable centuries, the belief and opinion were shifted to a different one due to the discovery of two primary sources of the subject: Pigafetta's account and Albo's log.

Based on the obtained sources, the first mass was held at Limasawa, not in Butuan. The controversy of the site of the First Mass as to where it was held- Limasawa or Butuan- gave confusion to historians as well as to the people. The notion of the Butuan Tradition that the site of the first Mass was in Butuan was a misconception due to the following reasons. First, traditions are just second-hand sources where authors just copy what the previous authors have written; author that omits a mistake can be passed and could last for centuries. Second, in Fr. Pablo Pastell SJ’s edition of Fr. Colin's Labor Evangelica, he set a footnote explaining that according to Pigafetta's account, the most reliable one, Magellan did not go to Butuan, instead, it was the king of Butuan who visited the king of Mazaua (Limasawa) and had attended the Mass together with Magellan. In connection with it, Francisco Albo's, Magellan's pilot, log asserts that they sailed southwest of Seilani to a small island called Masava (Limasawa) where the people on that island were very good and there, the Spaniards planted a cross at the mountain top. Moreover, Pigafetta and Albo's descriptions about the routes cohere with each other. Pastell's intensive research gives light to the misconception by explaining that the king of Butuan had visited and known Magellan at Mazaua (Limasawa) and attended the Mass and not the Mass being held at Butuan. Third, Albo's log coheres to the notion that the Mass was held at Limasawa by witnessing that the Spaniards planted a cross uphill to the said site. Another one would be the geographical analysis. Butuan is a riverine place. Pigafetta's account didn't mention that the Mass was held near the river; there's no way that the Mass was held there.

In conclusion, there are adequate pieces of evidence the prove that the first mass in the Philippines was in fact held in Limasawa, not in Butuan. Although the Butuan monument wasn't revised, mainly for the sake of respect to the Butuan claims, and remains as a historical artifact, it is being pointed out as a historical error by the National Historical Committee. There was just a misconception from one author to another and it took 3 centuries for that belief to be corrected.