Four Sites of the First Mass PDF

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Four Sites of the First MassOn Easter Sunday, 31st of March 1521 a small island port named Mazaua hosted the first Christian mass. The two eyewitnesses Antonio Pigafetta (1523) and Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1601) have told two identical accounts of this event. “Massawa,” a word found in 181 ...

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Four Sites of the First Mass On Easter Sunday, 31st of March 1521 a small island port named Mazaua hosted the first Christian mass. The two eyewitnesses Antonio Pigafetta (1523) and Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1601) have told two identical accounts of this event. “Massawa,” a word found in 181 of the Philippine languages, is found only in Butuanon and its scion, Tausog. It means bright light and clear crystal. Some Filipino historians have long challenged the notion that Limasawa was the location of the country’s Catholic Mass. The historian Sonia Zaide identified the site of the first Christian mass in Butuan as Masao. Zaide’s claim was supported by the diary of Magellan’s Chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta. In 1995 Congresswoman Ching Palaza in Agusan Del Norte- Butuan, subsequently, submitted a bill to the Congress contesting the Butuan aws the site of the first mass. To examine the issue and recommended the factual findings, the Philippine Congress referred the matter to the National Historical Institution. Dr. Samuel K. Tan, chairman of NHI, asserted the first mass at Limasawa. In the past several centuries, the exact place of the first Mass on Eastern Day, which according to the number one pro Butuan author, was not recorded in observing Easter Sunday on 13th of March 1521, still under discussion, includes countless experts in education, history, religion, politics, or other subjects (Salazar 2015).These are the paragraphs from Pigafetta, translated by Lord Stanley of Alderley. Salazar disprove that the First Mass on Easter was not a Biblical Festival not practiced in the Book of Acts since the original New Testament Church which started only on the Day of Pentecost in 31A.D/C.E. The Mass was not observed as described in Acts. 1. Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte. The most famous is Limasawa Island, an island town in Southern Leyte, which the Philippine government recognized as the actual site of the First Mass. Limasawa Island was also known by the powerful Roman Catholic Church as the site of the first mass landed by Magellan with his crew. The Spanish Embassy also acknowledged Limasawa as a landing site for Magellan and that it also dispatched the galleon of Andalusia for five days to Maasin City and about three hours to Limasawa. Limasawa has been recognized by the Embassy of Portugal in Metro Manila as the ‘Mazzaua,’ written by Pigafetta on which Magellan and his soldiers observed the first mass in Easter or introduced the people of the Island to Christianity. 2. Masao or Mazaua in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte. The next popular one is Mazaua in Butuan City, the capital of Agusan del Norte in Northern Mindanao. The Butuanons and their supporters advocate that Magellan and his men landed in Mazaua for the reason that it has the anchorage, rice field, gold, antique “balanghai” and other artifacts which they unearthed in scattered areas in Butuan City.

In the so called ‘Magellan harbor’ in Butuan, the real harbor for the cargo and passenger ships travelling to and departing from Butuan City is actually in Nasipit, which 25 kilometers west of Mazaua or Butuan City offshore is too shallow for ship navigation! If Mazaua had the abundant rice field, other food supplies, and water at the time when Magellan and his troops landed and held the First Mass or observed Easter Sunday, how come Magellan and his fellow sailors sought for more significant island? Mazaua was and is attached to Mindanao, the second largest island in the entire Philippines. Since the Pro-Mazaua supporters emphatically claimed that Magellan and his fellow sailor held the First Mass or observed Easter Sunday in their island of plenty. But what happened to the abundant foods, drinks, and other supplies in Mazaua and their next neighbor, the Kingdom of Butuan? Why did the two rajahs of Mazaua and Butuan volunteer as pilots to Magellan to obtain provisions in Cebu, which is much smaller than Mindanao? The Pro-Butuan proponents claimed that Magellan and his troops landed in Mazaua because Pigafetta wrote in his book about the small gift items made of gold supposedly from Butuan which Rajah Kalambu gave to Magellan. Well then, if gold was such a big deal in Butuan, Magellan and his sailor could have sailed easily south to Surigao, Mindanao while they were still sailing off the eastern coast of Panaon Island. They had seen Surigao which was and is in northeast Mindanao before nighttime because Mindanao is the second biggest Island in the entire Philippines. Surigao was known to have gold at that time and up to the present day. Magellan and his men in 3 ships did not search for spices only. They searched for anything or things of value to bring home and hand them over the King of Spain. Before Magellan and his men crossed the Pacific Ocean from the South America, the so-called experts on Mazaua, Butuan denied or ignored the unwritten history of the Portuguese colonization of Mindanao. The Roman Catholic Portuguese sailors were more likely to have held the ‘First Mass’ in the South of the Philippines before Magellan’s explorer landed in March 1521. Thus, the proponents of the pro-Butuan were entitled to assume, but not historically documented, the ‘first mass’ in Mindanao before Portugal had exchanged the entire Philippines with Spain for Brazil. Butuan was called Butan or Butuao on a Portuguese map from about 1535 to 1538. Spain didn’t even know that thare was Butuan. Therefore, Magellan and his fellow explorers did not sail south to Mazaua, Butuan. 3. Homonhon Island, Eastern Samar. After they landed in Guam and called Las Islas de los Ladrones (the theft island), Magellan’s troops had a terrible experience staying there. Some people in Homonhon Island and Samar claimed, shortly after the arrival of Magellan and his companions on the island, they had a mass in the Isle to thank God

for their safe journey from Guam and the vast Pacific Ocean. According to the group that was supporting the first mass in Homonhon: “Pigafetta did not exactly say that it was their first mass, he only reported that a mass was celebrated on Easter Sunday (in Mazzaua Island). Atty Mendiola concludes that on the island of Homonhon on 19th of March 1521 the first mass celebrated was held in the Philippines not one on 31th of that month, Limasawa or Mazaua. In the modern historiography, any passage or statement to the contrary in our history books would be unsustainable.” 4. Mahaba Island, Placer, Surigao del Norte. Finally, in the North-East of Mindanao, another group, said that the expedition of Magellan was the first Mass in Surigao del Norte, Mahaba Island. “ It was recorded that when he was nearing the shores of Mindanao, Magellan saw lights of a settlement which he avoided and sailed farther north and anchored near an island named Mazzava now mark in maps as Mahaba Island, located at latitude nine and two-thirds degrees”. “Mazzava Island appears on present detailed maps of the area to be Mahaba Island in the Municipality of Placer, Surigao del Norte. Magellan could have mistaken Mahaba Island, a small island to be part of Masepilid Island because it is almost touching this bigger island and at low tide, it could easily be mistaken to be connected to the bigger island at the northern tip.” “ If present maps will be examined today, it will be noted that Mahaba Island is very close to the island of Masepilid and the flotilla of Magellan most probably anchored between these two island. It will also be noted that Masepilid is shaped like a stingray as described by Pigafetta” While in Bolinao, Pangasinan, there is a small monument that marks the site of the first Christmas Mass ever held in the Philippines. A Franciscan friar called Odoric from Pordenone, Italy is said to have landed on the shore of Pangasinan, two centuries before Magellan wandered through the Philippine archipelago seeking shelter from a stormy sea. Taking a black crucifix onto the beach, he met:”hostile indigenous people who were soon pacified by his courage and faith. The first Christmas mass was held in the Philippines, and several Pangasinians were baptized later. It took place on December 25, 1324. Odoric Mattiussi of Pordenone was born n 1286 and entered the Order of Franciscans in Udine around 1300. Odoric set sail to Asia in 1318, ( but William H. Scott

, a historian doubted that he is a priest). When Odoric arrived back home n 1330, he told a friar named William of Solagna in Padua the story of his 12 years of adventure, but he did nothing about a Christmas Mass with a Christmas tree on all his travels. So what fits this story in Pangasinan? Believer’s points to a place called Thalamasin by Odoric. Probably its supposed link to Pangasinan is based on te excessively hopeful interpretation of Henry Yule’s book, Cathay, and the way it is . In examining the account of Odoric, Yule spoke about the possible meaning in Malaysian of the name Thalamasin, noting that tanah masin is a “land of Salt”. This has been sufficiently proved to some historians that the name Pangasinan means “the place where the sun is made” Odoric has visited the Philippines. Some also notice the connection to a legendary land of the Tawalisi name, home to the warrior princess of Pangasinan, Urduja- but this is a different myth. The name Paten knew Thalamasin, in the account he said, Odoric had no say on salt. The men of this place used protective amulets and blowpipe weapon placed under their skin. He said there were several trees in this land that could produce meal, wine and poison. Yule however pointed out that these features can be described by many places in the Malaysian archipelago. Thalamasin , somewhere between Java and Campa, now part of Vietnam, is in the narrative places of Odoric, and he said that he was near the “south sea” Bolinao., however, is a 16 degree point north of the equator and is a significant detour from the direct route from both. The best guess of Henry Yule was that Odoric probably referred to a place on the South coast of Borneo known by now as Banjarmasin, which means “salt garden”, Yule also referred to the site on the east coast of Borneo, whch was known as Biru (now Berau), which was listed n atlases called Talisian and Panten. Unfortunately, the pre-colonial Philippines have no written history; in fact, nearly no written documents at all. Foreign accounts are outlined and almost never mention places with recognizable names in the Philippines. For historians and Filipino nationalists, this was frustrating and has brought some of them to cross the line between history and myth. Whenever there is no information, some people always want information gaps to make them feel important, regardless of how desperately farreaching this information s. Scientists and historians, however, are often depicted as villains, who do legitimate research that can debunk these myth. The location of the mass until now has been contentious as many, undeniable and compelling reasons exist for believing that the first mass was highly possible in a single area in many locations...