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Limasawa | Mazzaua | People's Power | Planet X, Wormwood & the Great Tribulations | Proud to be a Filipino | Visit Us |
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Fourteen years into the future, a very important event will be celebrated in the Philippines. On March 31, 2021, perhaps over 95 million Filipinos will be celebrating, God willing, the 500th Anniversary of the First Mass which Ferdinand Magellan introduced in the only Asian country which resulted in 83% Roman Catholics and 9 to 10% Protestants of the present population.
Unlike the 500th Feast of Santo Niño which will be observed for sure in Cebu City, the First Mass celebration will divide the honored guests, visitors and tourists from many foreign countries. Thousands and thousands of the people will travel by pump-boats and chartered ships to Limasawa, an island town in Southern Leyte, and thousands will also travel by cars, trucks, buses, and other land transportation to Masao, the old name of Mazaua, Butuan City in Mindanao.
A WORTHLESS ARGUMENT WHICH NEVER ENDS
The Filipinos, particularly those in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte and Limasawa, Southern Leyte will probably be still disunited before, on the anniversary date, and after the 500th Anniversary celebration in the year 2021 of the First Mass in the Philippines. Unless the experts of Antonio Pigafetta's original Italian diary, journal or logbook regarding Magellan's landings and the First Mass on Easter issues, in addition to the Portuguese and Spanish governments' official statements on Limasawa Island as the original site, would come to the aid of the National Historical Institute, they will have two different brochures for the tourists and visitors to the First Mass historical landmark: one in Limasawa, Southern Leyte and the other one in Mazaua, Butuan City.
For the past centuries, innumerable numbers of Filipinos including the top experts in education, history, religion, politics, and other subjects are still debating as to the exact location of the First Mass in the Philippines, which occurred on March 31, 1521. Is it Limasawa or Mazaua?
What is the big deal of this historical/religious issue in the first place? Is determining the exact location of the First Mass, an Easter Mass, a matter of hell or heaven for most Filipinos? Is there any other country the rest of the world that observes the First Mass in its territory? Do the 87 million Filipinos know that in America, hundreds of native Americans, "Indians" or tribes, would participate every year in their protest march/parade against Columbus Day?
Carrying the Spanish flag, the Jewish-Italian Christopher Columbus and some of his fellow Italians, and the Spaniards and other Europeans "re-discovered" America. They too had a First Mass. However, the Native Americans including the Eskimos in Northern Canada, the descendants of the Mayans and Incas, and Latinos in Central and South America did not and do not make a big deal out of the First Mass or Introduction of Christianity in the American continent!
FIRST MASS ON EASTER WAS NOT A BIBLICAL FESTIVAL OR HOLIDAY!
Do the Filipinos reading this article and those who profess to be Christians even care to know that the First Mass on Easter in the Philippines was not a biblical festival/holiday or event?
Observing Easter has been a custom and tradition which the early "Christian" converts borrowed from the heathens or pagans. Easter is a non-biblical holiday which the heathens have been practicing hundreds and hundreds of years long before the birth of Jesus Christ! Easter is a pagan event which originated from the Babylonians, and it is still being practiced in our present generation in the month of March and April of the Gregorian Calendar. The Gregorian Calendar is totally different from the Hebrew or Old Testament Calendar!
There are millions and millions of "Christians" around the world including about 94% of the 87 million Filipinos that disobey the weekly and annual holy days which God commanded them to be kept and to be observed from one generation to the next generations (Leviticus Chapter 23). They just accept the doctrines, dogmas and teachings of the organized churches, ministries, preachers, and missionaries without questioning whether or not they were learned from the Holy Bible - the inspired words of God.
Millions and millions of the people were and are deceived to believe that "Christ nailed the Sabbath on the cross," and that He supposedly resurrected on Easter Sunday. If He died on "Good Friday," then He did not resurrect on early "Easter Sunday." Why? During Jesus' ministry, some of the scribes and Pharisees asked Him: "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." Christ answered: "For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great whale for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights" (Matthew 12: 38-40). Three days and three nights during the time of Christ were considered the equivalent of 72 hours in our present reckoning of time.
Around 94% of the citizens in the Philippines profess to be Christians, but Christ Himself said, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50 NIV). He also said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15 KJV). Moreover, He said, "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done" (Rev. 22:12 NIV). Christ certainly did not command His followers to observe the pagan Easter festival. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia and other world-famous reference books and softwares, Easter originated from Babylon!
At the present time, in Israel, there are two or more so-called sites of Jesus' birthplace, baptism, "last supper," crucifixion, burial place, etc. Depending on which religious affiliations that the tourists and visitors are members of, they go or tour to the ones that they feel comfortable seeing and being at the site. So, we Filipinos since we are all disunited anyway except probably during World War 2, we can continue to argue, debate, and establish our respective "historical" and "religious" landmarks and tourists' attractions in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
We can continue to pursue our many diverse, peculiar and unique differences until Jesus Christ returns in the coming Battle of Armageddon or World War 3! That is if we also survive miraculously in the coming Great Tribulations! According to the prophets of doom and gloom, only about 10% of the world's nearly 7 billion population would survive from the coming Great Tribulations! Ironically, when Christ returns on Earth He will eradicate the First Mass, Easter, All Saints' Day, Christmas, New Year, and many other non-biblical holidays and feast days. He will restore the observance of the original weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbath holy days!
FOUR SITES OF THE FIRST MASS?
Just as most of the people in the tropical country of 7,107 islands are disunited as a government, there are four communities, islands or sites in which the residents and their supporters are claiming to be the original site of the "First Mass" in the Philippines held in 1521.
Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte
The most famous is Limasawa Island, an island town in Southern Leyte, which the Philippine Government recognizes as the actual site of the "First Mass." The powerful Roman Catholic Church also recognizes Limasawa Island as the site where Magellan and his crew landed and held the "First Mass." Furthermore, the Embassy of Portugal in Metro Manila recognizes Limasawa as the "Mazzaua" which Pigafetta wrote about as the island where Magellan and his troops observed the "First Mass" or introduced Christianity to the island's inhabitants.
Some features why Limasawa Island is "Mazzaua:"
The main reason Magellan and his troops sailed toward and anchored in Limasawa Island in the first place was that at nighttime, while they were in the vicinity or southernmost tip off Panaon Island and coming from 8 days of rest and replenishment in Homonhon Island, they SAW A FIRE ON AN ISLAND and headed towards it. From the distance off south of Panaon Island, there was no way that Magellan and his men could have seen the fire as far as Mazaua, Butuan in Mindanao which was and is hidden to the south-southeast. (Please use Google Earth and find for yourself how difficult it was for Magellan and his crew to see Mazaua, Butuan from the vicinity of southeastern coast of Panaon Island and in line of sight WEST to Limasawa Island.) However, since Magellan and his men were always searching for an opening towards the WEST which incidentally was the direction of the fire on an island, they headed towards Limasawa Island.
"Magellan made it clear that he needed provisions for his ships. He also stated, however, that he had no intention of stripping Limasawa bare but would seek a bigger island, one with ample food resources. After an evening banquet on the shore, the rajahs [the one in Mazzaua and the other from Butuan] offered Magellan the services of pilots to guide him to Cebu, where he might be able to obtain his supplies. The captain-general accepted and 'promised to treat them like himself, and that he would leave one of his men as a hostage.' But Rajah Calambu [Ka Lambu] waved this suggestion aside: 'For love of him he wished to go himself to guide him to those ports and be his pilot,' wrote Pigafetta, if Magellan would wait two days until the rajah had managed to harvest his rice. Magellan agreed and even sent some of his own men to help with the harvest."
According to the pro-Mazaua supporters, Limasawa is too small an island to have rice fields, therefore it was in Mazaua, Butuan that the "First Mass" was held. (In March 1521 in Limasawa Island, it was possible that the island had more vegetation and forestry which collected ample rainfall. The natives could have used the rice-terraces system which their ancestors learned from Indonesia.) But, why did Magellan go as far as Cebu to get provisions at the same time frame when supposedly Mazaua, the "Kingdom of Butuan," had the abundant resources? Limasawa Island is 50% nearer to Cebu City and Mactan (where Magellan was killed) than Mazaua is to the Philippines' oldest city. Bigger than Limasawa, Mazaua is attached to Mindanao. But, some of them said that it used to be an island which no Nobel Prize-winning scientist has declared that it was an island!
One unique clue as to why Limasawa Island was the site of the "First Mass" is Triana, the main barangay or sitio in the island town. It has the municipal hall of Limasawa. Triana may have been named by Magellan himself. Triana is a suburb of Seville, Spain in which Magellan married Beatriz Barbosa in its main church.
The modern concrete cross which was erected on top of a mountain and the historical landmark in barangay Magallanes, which is on the southeast side of Limasawa Island, should have been erected in Triana which is on the west side, and mid-way between the north and south coasts of Limasawa Island. It was so obvious that the "First Mass" on Easter was held in Limasawa Island because of its strategic location - being surrounded by the sea and is easily visible to any ship passing from the east or west or from the north or south. Whereas, Mazaua in Butuan only has the sea available only to its northwest side because the rest of Mazaua is connected to Mindanao Island. Besides, the Ecumenical Christians can comfortably use the same site of the cross to observe their ideal Easter Service which starts before the sun rises on a Sunday!
According to the pro-Mazaua, Butuan group, Limasawa was formerly "Dimasawa" (which sounded like "dili" mazaua, which means "not" in Cebuano), how do you explain the town "Libagon" in Southern Leyte which can be seen toward northeast from the northeastern coast of Limasawa Island? "Bagon" is a Cebuano word for a vine or certain plant. There is also another town called "Liloan" in Southern Leyte which is in the northern tip of Panaon Island and part of the southeastern Leyte Island.
While Magellan and his men were in the eastern side of South America for 6 months seeking for a WESTWARD route and waiting for the winter season to cease, they encountered and successfully passed the most perilous piloting of their 5 sailing ships to sail through the very narrow, shallow, and winding straits. Why then would it be impossible, as one pro-Mazaua theorized, for Magellan to drop anchor off the west coast of Limasawa Island? Magellan studied Columbus' navigation, landing and exploration in 4 voyages (in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502) to the Caribbean Islands in East Central America. Columbus anchored about one-kilometer off the coast of one island in the Bahamas.
Although Limasawa has no harbor, which the pro-Mazaua, Butuan adherents reasoned as not the site of Magellan's anchorage due to lack of it, it is a BIG LIE that Limasawa Island cannot accommodate anchorage to ships similar to Magellan's 3-ship flotilla and other types of ships. A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, battleship or destroyer, and the largest cruise liner and ocean cargo ship can drop anchors from 100 to 400-meters off the east and/or west coast of Limasawa Island. There are foreign-owned scuba diving enterprises operating in Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, just 2 or more kilometers from Limasawa. On a motorized boat, they take their scuba diving customers to the east and/or west off the coast of Limasawa Island. They dive deep into the sheer "wall" which gives you a picture that it was more than possible for Magellan and his fellow sailors to drop their anchors in Limasawa Island.
Being a very religious person, Magellan knew that when he and his fellow sailors anchored and landed in "Mazzaua" Island on Thursday morning, he saw and knew that the island was the ideal site to hold the "First Mass" on Easter Sunday. Pigafetta wrote: "He [Magellan] had a cross brought with the nails and the crown to which those kings did reverence. And the captain caused them to be told that these things that he showed them were the insignia of the Emperor or his lord and master, by whom he was charged and commanded to set them up in all the places where he should go and travel. And he told them that he wished to set them up in their country for their benefit, so that if any ships of Spain came afterward to those islands, they seeing the said cross would know that we had been there. And by this token they would do them no harm, and if they took any of their men, being immediately shown this sign, they would let them go." Such display of the cross, if it was erected in Mazaua, Butuan, the Portuguese colonizers in Mindanao would have known that Magellan did it. They would have arrested and jailed Magellan and his fellow sailors in Mazaua, Butuan!
The Portuguese Government has the "unwritten history" that Magellan, a Portuguese, and his fellow sailors anchored in Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte!
"The Treaty of Tordesillas on June 7, 1494 virtually divided the unknown world between Spain and Portugal with the approval of the Holy See. Did you know that Magellan, in a previous expedition, had already come to the Moluccas, just south of Mindanao? In those days, Portugal had something that the Spanish didn't have: cartographic maps of the so-called Spice Islands. Therefore, since he was a Portuguese, it is safe to assume that Magellan used Portuguese cartographic maps during his historic expedition that brought him to Cebu on March 16, 1521 [this is a wrong date].
"With the Treaty of Tordesillas, Prof. De Sousa said the Philippine archipelago fell under the jurisdiction of Portugal... but Magellan made his claim for the King of Spain who paid for his expedition. Thus, in 1750, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Madrid whereby the Portuguese exchanged the Philippines for the South Frontier of Brazil, which gave Portugal control of Rio de la Plata. Again this is something we've never read in our history books. History tells us that Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for a measly sum of $20 million, but we never knew about this exchange deal between Spain and Portugal for Brazil!
"Talking about rewriting history, we all know about the claim made by some Butuanons that a place called Mazaua was allegedly the site of the first Holy Mass instead of Limasawa Island off Southern Leyte. Well, Prof. De Sousa has another insight on this, which I'm sure puts an end to this endless debate and enrich our pre-Spanish history. It turned out that the ill-fated Magellan expedition ended Spanish exploration of these islands. But Portuguese navigators like João de Barros, Gaspar Correia, Diogo do Couto, Francisco de Castro and Antonio Galvão have been exploring Mindanao from 1520 to 1565 until the Spaniards resumed its conquest of the Philippines through another expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
"Even as early as June 1970, Cebuano historian Dionisio A. Sy already wrote a book entitled 'Butuan through the ages' where he already disproved that Mazaua or Mazawa was the site of the first Mass because the naval latitude coordinates that Pigafetta used almost matched that of Limasawa in Leyte. Therefore, if Magellan never went to Butuan... who did?
"Any of these Portuguese explorers I mentioned went to Mindanao, but the best bet is Antonio Galvão who circumnavigated the whole island [of Mindanao]. In fact, one Portuguese captain named João de Canha Pinto (who is also mistaken as João de Caminha) went to the island of Sirigao, which could very well be Siargao today, and had a blood compact with the King there."
Mazaua, 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 fields, gold, antique "balanghai" and other artifacts which they unearthed in scattered areas in Butuan City.
In the so-called "Magellan's Harbor" in Butuan, the real harbor for the cargo and passenger ships traveling to and departing from Butuan City is actually in Nasipit, which is 25 kilometers west of Mazaua. Mazaua or Butuan City's offshore is too shallow for ship navigation!
If Mazaua had the abundant rice fields, other food supplies, and water at the time when Magellan and his troops landed and held the "First Mass," how come Magellan and his fellow sailors were still seeking for a bigger island? Mazaua was and is attached to Mindanao, the second largest island in the entire Philippines.
Since the pro-Mazaua supporters strongly claimed that Magellan and his fellow sailors held the "First Mass" in their "island of plenty" what happened to the abundant foods, drinks, and other supplies in Mazaua and their next door neighbor, the "Kingdom of Butuan?" Why did the two rajahs of "Mazzaua" and Butuan offered as pilots to Magellan to obtain provisions in Cebu?
The pro-Butuan proponents claimed that Magellan and his troops landed in Mazaua, Butuan City because Pigafetta wrote about the small gift items made of gold from Butuan which Rajah Ka lambu gave to Magellan. Well, if gold was such a big deal, Magellan and his sailors could have gone easily south to Surigao, Mindanao while they were still sailing off the eastern coast of Panaon Island. They had seen Surigao in northeast Mindanao before nighttime because Mindanao is the second biggest island in the Philippines. Surigao was known to have gold at that time and up to the present day. Magellan and his men in 3 ships were not searching for spices only. They were searching for anything or things of value to bring home and hand them over to the King of Spain!
Furthermore, the pro-Butuan supporters claimed that the antique "balanghai" or banca that some of them found under the ground in Mazaua, Butuan is one proof that Magellan was in Mazaua. Wrong! There are other hundreds of artifacts and remnants, not just bancas, found in other islands in the Philippines. The historical landmark of Magellan in which the Butuanons claimed as another proof that Magellan landed was actually erected years later by some Portuguese in Mindanao. Magellan himself was Portuguese. All of the Philippine Islands were actually within the eastern demarcation line which belonged to Portugal, not Spain, just as in the case of the 17,000 islands in Indonesia and the rest of Asia.
One Filipino author, Vicente C. de Jesus, wrote a lengthy article entitled, "Mazaua: Magellan's Lost Harbor." The government of Butuan City, Mindanao, commissioned him to do extensive research on the Mazaua landfall issue. He concluded that Magellan and his troops landed in Mazaua, Butuan City, Philippines. He wrote:
"Two events define the meaning of Mazaua for most Filipinos, the Easter mass and the planting of a large cross atop the tallest hill. The Philippines is an isolated rock of Christianity in a huge ocean lashed by the powerful waves of Islam, Buddhism, Hindu and other beliefs. Of its 76 million people 83% are Catholics, 9% Protestants. Mazaua, therefore, is an icon to a deeply religious people, an event of overarching importance. This aspect of a signal event in world geography and Renaissance navigation has unfortunately served to distort the way the event is viewed."
"An icon to a deeply religious people, an event of overarching importance" to whom? It may be an icon and very important event to the professed "Christians" and Holy Bible illiterates, but to those who practice Biblical Christianity, the First Mass on Easter is meaningless and worthless! Most Filipinos have all the time in the world to read the newspapers, tabloids, the political, sports and entertainment publications, and the comics but not few minutes to read and study the Holy Bible.
In addition, Mr. de Jesus wrote: "Hopefully, given this exposure the discussion on Mazaua will be global in scale and the process of peer review will engage the world's greatest minds. From this global playing field, where does NHI stand? What are its bona fides? What credentials will it present to the world of Magellan scholarship and Renaissance navigation history? Opiana's mediocrity? Or Gancayco's casuistry? Does it even have any right anymore to participate in this globalized discussion?"
The world's greatest minds in America, for example, are not going to help with the "First Mass" argument in the Philippines. They do not even care to help the 700,000 plus homeless Americans: "There were an estimated 754,000 homeless people in the United States, in shelters or living on the streets on a single night in January 2005, U.S. officials said in a report to Congress released on Wednesday.... According to the study, from February to April 2005, an estimated 704,000 people in the United States used homeless shelters or transitional housing...."
The so-called experts on Mazaua, Butuan denied or ignored the "unwritten history" of the Portuguese' colonization of Mindanao before Magellan and his explorers sailed across the Pacific Ocean from South America. They ignored or pretended not to know the fact that the Portuguese navigators, such as João de Barros, Gaspar Correia, Diogo do Couto, Francisco de Castro and Antonio Galvão had explored Mindanao from 1520 to 1565. The Portuguese were ahead of Magellan's expedition in the Philippines by at least one year.
Before Magellan's explorers landed in March 1521, the Roman Catholic Portuguese sailors more likely had conducted the "First Mass" in Southern Philippines! Therefore, the pro-Butuan proponents had the right to assume and claim the "First Mass" in Mindanao, but not recorded in history, before Portugal exchanged the entire Philippines for Brazil with Spain. In a Portuguese map made around 1535 to 1538, Butuan's name was Butan or Butuão. Spain did not even know that Butuan existed!
Thus, carrying the flag of Spain and being financed by the Spanish King Charles V, Magellan and his fellow explorers did not sail south to Mazaua, Butuan in Mindanao. The Portuguese navigators who sailed eastward from Portugal to Mindanao via Indonesia had occupied the big Mindanao Island one year before Magellan and his troops landed in Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte. The natives of Mazaua, Butuan mistook the Portuguese explorers from Portugal as that of Magellan's explorers from Spain.
"The Portuguese had known where Magellan's fleet was bound before it even sailed; warships would surely be waiting to stop it from reaching the Moluccas. Even if Magellan found the Moluccas, loaded his ships with precious spices and then got away, most ports and trading stations on the route back to Spain would be Portuguese outposts and closed to him." Since some Portuguese captains and navigators and their crew had explored and colonized Mindanao Island, they would have arrested Magellan and his men if they landed in Mazaua, Butuan which was a Portuguese outpost and trading station in Mindanao. The Portuguese authorities arrested and jailed the entire 54 crew members of Trinidad, Magellan's flagship, after the ship was repaired and loaded with spices on its EASTWARD voyage from the Spice Islands to the planned Panama in Central America, where they could transship the spices to another ship bound for Spain!
Homonhon Island, Eastern Samar
Some people in Homonhon Island and Samar also claimed that Magellan and his fellow sailors must have some kind of religious festivity shortly after they landed on the island. Magellan's troops had a terrible experience after they landed in Guam, which they called Las Islas de los Ladrones (the island of thieves). So, according to the groups supporting the "First Mass" in Homonhon, Magellan and his sailors had a mass in the island to thank God for their safe trip from Guam and the vast Pacific Ocean:
"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 in his paper, 'that the mass on Homonhon island on the 19th day of March 1521, was the first one celebrated in the Philippines, not one at Limasawa or Mazaua on the 31st of that month. Any passage or statement to the contrary in our history books would be unsustainable under present historiography.'
"Notwithstanding these debates when the first mass was celebrated, the fact remains that it was in Homonhon that Magellan first landed. And today, we commemorate that event and celebrate its greater significance. The historian Agoncillo writes that it was through this trip that the Europeans first learned of the existence of the Philippines. It also proved that the earth was round; it established the vastness of the Pacific Ocean; it proved that the East Indies could be reached by crossing the Pacific and finally, it showed that the Americas was really a land mass entirely separate from Asia.
"While Magellan discovered the existence of the Philippines, for me, the greater significance of Magellan's arrival in Homonhon, was it showed the world, that we in Samar, already had a society, a culture of our own. Pigafetta wrote that 'their seignior was an old man who was painted. He wore two gold earrings in his ears and the others many gold armlets on their arms and kerchiefs about their heads... They have very black hair that falls to the waist, and use daggers, knives, and spears ornamented with gold, large shields, fascines, javelins and fishing nets that resemble rizali and their boats are like ours.'
"Later on, Jesuit missionaries who came and settled our island would document this culture. Our society then was structured according to social classes which dictated not only the behavior of men and women but also the manner of dressing from head to toe, from cradle to their graves."
Mahaba Island, Placer, Surigao del Norte
Finally, another group of people in northeastern Mindanao claimed that Magellan's expedition actually had the First Mass in Mahaba Island in Surigao del Norte:
"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 [actually south] and anchored near an island named Mazzava, now mark on maps as Mahaba Island, located at latitude nine and two thirds degrees.
"Magellan during that time was using an astrolabe (or cross staff) to determine his latitude location and the accuracy of this instrument was plus or minus one degree. They must have landed and then check their latitude location which was why they read to one third of a degree, which they could not have done [so] on a moving ship. There was no way during that time to determine [the] longitude as the chronometer which could measure [the] longitude was only invented by James Harrison, an Englishman, in 1740.
"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 if 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. This could be the reason that the island where they landed was described as shaped like a sting ray, which Masepilid is, and about 10 x 5 miles in area.
"If present maps (1: 50,000 sheet Taganan No.) 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 islands. It will be noted also that Masepilid is shaped like a sting ray as described by Pigafetta."
WAS IT THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES OR ASIA?
The First Mass, an Easter Mass, argument whether it happened in Limasawa, Mazaua, Homonhon or Mahaba is worthless. Again and again, the Easter Mass is pagan in origin! Filipinos are dead wrong with their claim of having the First Mass in the orient. The Philippines is part of Asia, and it was connected by a land bridge to mainland Asia thousands of years ago, according to some scientists.
The priests and missionaries introduced Christianity and the Mass in Asia several centuries long before Spain and Portugal came into power. Hundreds of years before Magellan's expedition in the Philippines, the Chinese had traveled to and from our country to barter their goods and products with our ancestors' goods and products. Since the priests and missionaries introduced Christianity to China during and after the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it is egocentric for Filipinos to assume that no Christian missionary from China came to the Philippines to spread the gospel. After all, the New Testament Church, which started in 31 A.D., taught and lived by example as written in the New Testament Bible that the followers of Christ must "go into the entire world and preach the gospel unto every one"!
Here is the proof:
"Christianity was first introduced into China from Central Asia during the early years of the Tang dynasty (618-907), as part of a widespread missionary movement by the Assyrian Church, the members of which are widely but inaccurately referred to as Nestorian Christians. Christianity in China was suppressed in the mid ninth century, but underwent a revival under the Khitan and Mongol regimes from the 12th to the 14th centuries, and during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) the 'Nestorian' church had a strong presence amongst the Uighur population in the western fringes of China.
"It was also during the Yuan dynasty that the Catholic Church first reached China. A series of Franciscan missions had been sent out by the papacy to Persia, India and China from the year 1241, but the first mission to actually reach China was that of John of Montecorvino (1246-1328), who had set out in 1289, and arrived at the capital of the Mongol Empire, known to Europeans of the time as Cambaluc (literally 'City of the Khan', which is modern Beijing) in 1294. He built two churches in the capital, and is reputed to have translated the New Testament and Psalms into Chinese, but these translations no longer exist.
"In 1307 Pope Clement V sent seven Franciscan friars, each with the rank of bishop, to China in order to consecrate John as Archbishop of China. Only three of the seven, Gerard, Peregrine and Andrew of Perugia, survived the long journey, arriving in Cambaluc in 1308.
"Although John had established a strong presence in the capital, there were no missionary outposts elsewhere in China until Friar Gerard was sent to Zayton (Quanzhou) as bishop of the city. It seems that Zayton was chosen as the only bishopric outside the capital as it already had a Christian presence there in the form of a church that had been founded by a 'rich Armenian lady'. This church was established as a cathedral, and Gerard became the first bishop of Zayton. The fact that the existing church was converted into the Catholic cathedral would suggest that it may have been a Catholic church, and that at least some of the existing Christians of Zayton may have been Catholics associated with maritime trade rather than all Nestorians from Central Asia, who the Franciscans regarded as heretics..."
DO YOU BELIEVE THE PRO-BUTUAN PROPONENTS OR PIGAFETTA'S ORIGINAL BOOK AND THE PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT?
When it concerns the historical accuracy of Magellan's westward expedition from Spain to the Spice Island in Indonesia via the Philippines, who do you believe? The so-called experts, supporters and defenders of Mazaua, Butuan City or do you believe Antonio Pigafetta's original book and the Portuguese Government?
In 1997, this writer happened to visit for the first time Mazaua in Butuan City. He participated in a study-tour to Davao, Cotabato, and Agusan del Norte in Mindanao together with over 65 barangay captains from Maasin, the capital of Southern Leyte. While in Butuan City, they saw some of the antique exhibits inside a little museum in Mazaua. They did not see a hill or mountain. They did not see the other islands mentioned and sketched in Pigafetta's logbook when he was on top of a hill in "Mazzaua." The visitors arrived at the site of the so-called Magellan's "First Mass" in Butuan City, not by ships like Magellan's expedition, but by 3-chartered buses transportation from Maasin, Southern Leyte!
Mazaua in Butuan City is not an island! It is a flat delta formed by one of the many rivers in Butuan City in which the river split into two: one flowed towards the north-northwest and the other one to the west. There is no island in Butuan City! (Do yourself a favor. Please see the revealing satellite photograph of Butuan City and its suburbs by using and playing Google Earth.)
PIGAFETTA'S DIARY OR LOGBOOK PROVIDED CLUES AS TO WHY MAGELLAN DID NOT LAND IN MAZAUA, MINDANAO
They landed on the island where they saw a fire the night before
From Guam, Magellan and his troops landed in Homonhon Island for 8 days and replenished their 3 remaining ships for their basic needs. Then they lifted anchors and sailed towards the eastern side of Leyte Island and veered southward. They saw Dinagat Island to the east of Southern Leyte. They saw San Pablo and San Pedro islands off the coast of Hinunangan, Southern Leyte. They saw Panaon Island almost touching the southeastern tip of Leyte Island, and sailed along the eastern coast of Panaon.
After they passed through the southern tip of Panaon Island, what did Magellan and his sailors see? Pigafetta wrote in his logbook that "we had seen a fire on an island the night before, we anchored near it." From south of Panaon Island, they veered westward to the island in which they saw a fire.
To an expert investigator and researcher riding a sailing ship, and he is on the southeastern tip of Panaon Island, when he searches the horizon at night from left to right or right to left with a telescope or powerful binocular, there is no way that he can see a fire or light from Mazaua, Butuan City at night, unless a very large area of Butuan City is on fire! Butuan City is just too far away to the south (to be exact, south-southeast) for him to be able to see a fire from the southeastern side of Panaon Island. However, if he looks towards the west from the coast of southern Panaon Island, he can see the fire in Limasawa Island if there is one. (From a distance, Magellan and his fellow sailors probably saw a bonfire or "kaingin" in what is now called barangay Magallanes in Limasawa, which faces Panaon Island.)
They landed in small islands
Antonio Pigafetta was the only tourist who paid to travel with Magellan's expedition. He wrote daily without any intermission on everything which happened during the first circumnavigation of the world. Pigafetta wrote about the islands, including some of the Philippine Islands, which he and the others saw and landed on. When he wrote the word, "island" or "islands," he meant what he wrote. When he described "Mazzaua" or "Gatighan" and made a sketch of it, he meant it was exactly an island, although it was not exactly the same as the cartographic map of Limasawa.
Pigafetta's sketch of "Mazzaua" or "Gatighan," which neither look exactly as the one in Butuan City nor in Southern Leyte including its exact longitude and latitude in relation to Leyte and Bohol islands, is the very same Limasawa located in Southern Leyte. It is the very same Limasawa Island which Villalobos saw 21 years later when he followed Magellan's route.
From 1996 to 1998, this writer also visited three times the Limasawa Island. He went over to the scenic and romantic island (ala "Fantasy Island") and participated in the "First Mass" activities together with Congressman Roger G. Mercado of Southern Leyte, Governor Oscar Tan of Southern Leyte, a top regional tourism official from Tacloban City, a bishop from the Maasin Cathedral, and hundreds of other visitors including some friends and relatives. They saw the historical landmark and the modern concrete and very tall cross on top of the mountain in Limasawa Island. Over at the mountain top next to the cross, they saw Panaon, Leyte, Bohol, Camiguin, other small islands, and the big Mindanao Island. They saw the same islands that Pigafetta and other members of Magellan's expedition saw.
Pigafetta wrote that when he was on top of a mountain in "Mazzaua," he saw the islands which are now called as Panaon, Leyte, Bohol, and Surigao in Mindanao. Again, when Pigafetta mentioned the word "island" or "islands" in his logbook, he meant exactly what he saw and wrote about.
He described the "islands" he saw when Magellan's expedition was around South America. He described the "islands" which they saw as they sailed across the vast Pacific Ocean. He described Guam, Samar, Homonhon, Leyte, Panaon, Limasawa, Bohol, Canigao, Mactan, Cebu, and other islands in the Philippines. He described the islands in Indonesia, in Africa, the Cape Verde islands off the coast in northwest Africa, and many other islands.
They always made their voyage westward
Magellan and his expedition forces certainly did not sail south towards Mazaua in Butuan unless it was very necessary to avoid hitting land while sailing towards the west. After they sailed south off the coast of Panaon Island at night and coincidentally saw the "fire" from an island (Limasawa) west of Panaon, they headed towards it. They were always heading west to search for the Spice Islands. Magellan knew exactly where he was going! Years earlier in 1511 from Portugal, "he performed important services in the Portuguese conquest of Malacca," which is in Malaysia. Again, Pigafetta wrote: "we had always made our voyage westward and had returned to the same place of departure as the sun." Magellan and his men did not sail towards Mazaua, Butuan in Mindanao because, at present, Mazaua is located far more south; it is exactly south-southeast and almost hidden when viewed from the southern coast of Panaon Island.
Pigafetta had written down each day without any intermission
Pigafetta wrote his original diary or logbook in Italian. Before it was lost, Pigafetta's diary was translated into French and from French to English, and other languages. Other authors, for instance, Gines de Mafra who claimed to be with Magellan's expedition, wrote their own versions of the story but they wrote their experiences several years later after their circumnavigation. The survivors of Magellan's expedition, exploration, and circumnavigation suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Syndrome. However, in the case of Pigafetta, he "had written down each day without any intermission." Some of the pro-Butuan proponents relied mostly from the books of the other authors that obviously suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Also, they were sort of "lost in translation."
As in other books and magazine articles which hundreds of other writers translated into other languages, the exposition, narrative and description, etc. of the events, subjects or topics, whether they occurred months ago or centuries ago, they are not 100% accurate.
Pigafetta's book is the best and most accurate and reliable book with regards to Magellan's expedition including their journey in the Philippines. Please link to the summary in English translation "Magellan's Voyage - a Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation" and Tagalog translation "Ang Pagdayo Sa Pilipinas at Unang Pag-ikot sa Mundo".
Here are the additional links regarding Antonio Pigafetta:
MORE REFERENCES IN FAVOR OF LIMASAWA
There is an excellent book which Father Miguel Bernad, S.J. authored. His book, Butuan or Limasawa: The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines, is available at the Southern Leyte Provincial Library in Maasin City, Southern Leyte. (This writer had read it completely many years ago.)
Fr. Bernad was a professor of Saint Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao. Fr. Bernad (if this writer still remembers the details of Fr. Bernad's book) went to Mazaua, Butuan City and Limasawa, Southern Leyte to study the First Mass held during Magellan's expedition. He conducted research works in Spain and other places related to Magellan's First Mass. He concluded that Magellan and his co-explorers landed and held the First Mass in Limasawa, Southern Leyte!
Moreover, during Ruy Lopez de Villalobos' expedition in 1542, he and his men followed Magellan's voyage route from Spain to the Philippines. Villalobos and his troops sailed also to Limasawa, Southern Leyte. But they also traveled down to Mindanao where they met their Portuguese counterparts. The Portuguese confronted and protested against the Spaniards as to why they entered illegally in the land which "belonged" to the Portuguese as mandated by Pope Alexander VI (of course, without the approval of the natives in the country). From Mindanao, Villalobos and his troops sailed and headed north to explore and exploit other places in Leyte and Samar islands. He named our country, Filipinas, which originally composed of Leyte, Samar, and the nearby islands in honor of King Felipe II of Spain.
MAGELLAN DID NOT DROP ANCHORS NEXT TO MAZAUA, MINDANAO FOR SECURITY REASONS
Ferdinand Magellan was considered the first sailor to circumnavigate the world. Years earlier before he sailed westward from Spain to the Philippines, he had sailed eastward from Portugal to Malacca in Malaysia, not too far from the Spice Islands. During the exploration era of Portugal to the East and Spain to the West of the demarcation line which the Pope in Rome established for them, the Portuguese and Spanish captains and navigators knew that it was dangerous to venture nearer to and drop their anchors next to big islands, more so if they were total strangers to the big islands.
For security reasons during the westward exploration from Spain, Magellan and his troops in 3 remaining sailing ships did not drop anchors in Mazaua, Butuan City, Mindanao because it is the second largest island in the Philippines. They did not do it when they saw Samar Island, the third largest island. They did not do it in Leyte, the eight largest island. But they dropped their anchors in the small Limasawa Island located southwest off Leyte.
They dropped anchors in the big Cebu Island because they had Rajah Ka Lambu from Mazzaua/Limasawa Island who escorted them to see Rajah Humabon, the chieftain of Cebu, and to secure provisions. Cebu, during the time when Magellan visited, was already a popular shipping port among the traders from China and other countries in South Asia. The people in Cebu and Mactan were very familiar with foreign sailing ships even long before Magellan's expedition arrived.
LIMASAWA IS THE TOP DESTINATION FOR THE 500TH FIRST MASS ANNIVERSARY!
Let us see what will happen on March 31, 2021. It will be the 500th Anniversary of the First Mass, an Easter Mass, in the Philippines. If the Pope and the rest of the top ranking priests and nuns of the Roman Catholic Church, the Portuguese and Spanish royal families, foreign government officials and representatives, the tourists and visitors from Portugal, Spain, and many other countries are invited to participate in the 500th Anniversary, majority of them will go, God willing, to Limasawa, Southern Leyte instead of Butuan City! Why?
Mazaua in Butuan City is not the same "Mazzaua" which Pigafetta described as the island where they held the First Mass. It is the "unwritten history" that the Portuguese colonized Mindanao shortly before Magellan discovered it for Spain; that the Portuguese knew exactly where Magellan landed - in Limasawa Island.
Pigafetta mentioned "islands" many times during the entire circumnavigation of the world. When he and the survivors of Magellan's expedition sailed on the way back towards Spain and they were in the vicinity of Cape Verde, a group of islands located off the coast of northwest Africa, Pigafetta wrote:
"On Wednesday, the ninth of July [1522], we arrived at one of these islands named Santiago, where we immediately sent the boat ashore to obtain provisions. And we charged our men in the boat that, when they were ashore, they should ask what day it was. They were answered that to the Portuguese it was Thursday, at which they were much amazed, for to us it was Wednesday, and we knew not how we had fallen into error. For every day I, being always in health, had written down each day without any intermission. But, as we were told since, there had been no mistake, for we had always made our voyage westward and had returned to the same place of departure as the sun, wherefore the long voyage had brought the gain of twenty-four hours, as is clearly seen."
Let us stop the arguments or debates on Magellan's exact location of the Philippines' "First Mass" on Easter - a pagan festival or event which originated from Babylon or Iraq few thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ! The so-called important historical debates cannot provide the drastic needs for our fellow 87 million Filipinos. Please bear in mind that Magellan studied Columbus' achievements before he and his fellow explorers risked their own lives to search for the Spice Islands via the uncharted west. He and his troops accidentally ended down in the Philippines where Lapu-lapu killed the unfortunate Magellan and few others in Mactan Island.
Let us learn from Columbus' re-discovery of America: "The first place Christopher Columbus landed when he came to the New World in 1492 was an island of the Bahamas. Columbus claimed the island for Spain and named it San Salvador. Historians are not sure which island Columbus landed, but they think it may have been present-day San Salvador (formerly Watling Island) or Samana Cay." Although Columbus had explored the Caribbeans 4 times in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502, there are proponents for 7 other possible landing sites as to where exactly Columbus and his troops first anchored and landed during their 1492 voyage to the Caribbean Islands!
For the sake of unity to our country's diverse Christian denominations, for the sake of the independent Christian groups and other religious organizations and institutions, for the sake of the tourism and hospitality industries, and for the sake and success of the coming 500th Anniversary celebration on March 31, 2021, we Filipinos need to get rid of the terminology "First Mass" on Easter. Instead the right and proper description of the historical and religious events which occurred during the expedition, exploration and circumnavigation should have been "Magellan's Introduction of Christianity" in Homonhon, Limasawa, Cebu, and few of the 7107 other islands in the Philippines!!!
Limasawa is an island town located southwest of Southern Leyte. It is a very attractive tropical island with coral reefs around the northern side, white sandy beaches in the central and southern coasts, hills and mountains and thick green vegetations - mostly coconuts and banana plantations - and rock formations! It has a small unpaved airstrip for missionary pilots. It has the eagles and other colorful birds of the tropics. It has a light tower on the northern tip of the island to warn and guide the passenger and cargo ships traveling at night.
Limasawa is a very scenic and photogenic island, equal in beauty and quality as that of the famous Boracay Island, according to one of our country's travel writers. It is the ideal tropical island which is popular among the local and foreign scuba divers and fishing aficionados. It is the ideal destination for tourists and other visitors to go camping, hiking, swimming, boating around the island, and fishing. It is one of the best islands in the country to visit, to tour, to take a vacation, to hold a triathlon, and just to have fun all day and through the night.
Once again, Pigafetta wrote in his logbook that "we had seen a fire on an island the night before, we anchored near it." On it, Magellan's explorers landed and introduced Christianity, not just the First Mass on Easter, to the inhabitants of Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte, Philippines!
