Where was the 1st Catholic Mass been held?
Early accounts—mainly by friars relying on available writings and on tradition—reported the First Mass as being held in Butuan, Agusan del Norte, specifically on an island called Masao.
What is the old name of Philippines?
The Philippines were claimed in the name of Spain in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer sailing for Spain, who named the islands after King Philip II of Spain. They were then called Las Felipinas.
Is it true that there is only one account of the first Catholic Mass in the Philippines?
Pigafetta’s eyewitness account is the most detailed and only surviving account of the first Mass in the Philippines. But there are different interpretations of his account on where it was held. Historian Gabriel Atega said Butuan had long been considered the site of the Mass.
Was it really the first Mass in Limasawa?
Now, about Palm Sunday 1520, and we know this from the journal entries of a young Venetian who chronicled the voyage of Magellan, Antonio de Pigafetta. It was Pigafetta, by the way, who recorded that a Mass was celebrated in Limasawa on March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday. He never said it was the “first.”
Who came to the Philippines on March 16 1521?
On Saturday March 16, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, after leaving the islands of Canoyas, later called the Landrones, named after the thievish propensities of its inhabitants, (now known as Marianas Islands) sailing westward looking for the Moluccas, sighted an island which has very lofty mountains.
What is the controversy about the first Catholic Mass in the Philippines?
The first Holy Mass was celebrated not in the Visayas but in Mindanao because that historical event, that first step to staking territory in the name of God and King, occurred not in Limasawa which is part of the Visayas, but in Butuan (Mazaua) situated in northern Mindanao.
Why is it called Limasawa?
It is said that his polygamous relationships were how the island got its name – Limasawa is a portmanteau of the Visayan words lima, which means five, and asawa, which means wife.