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I. Mazaua

Mazaua is the original name of this municipality. There are two assumptions how the
municipality got its name: One assumption is that before the Spanish men arrived to the island,
the natives don’t really have a name of their place. Upon the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and
his men, one of the natives was asked for the name of their place. The native, unable to
understand what it meant, mistakenly interpreted the question to mean as to “how many wives
their Rajah has”. So he answered immediately “Lima’y Asawa”, meaning that their Rajah has
five wives. The Spanish too, thinking that was the answer to his question, return to tell his
companions that the island is named “Lima’y Asawa ”. And from then on, the place came to be
called as “Limasawa”. Another assumption is that when the Spanish men arrived to the island,
they named it “Mazaua” for the beauty of the place. As it is their custom to add the prefix “Le”
to mean a particular name, it became the tongue of everyone in the place to call it as “Le Mazaua
”. It was the local people themselves who later changed the spelling and joined the two words
into “Limasawa”.

 https://cebutravelblogph.wordpress.com/2017/08/27/mazaua-means-limasawa/

II. The Arrival

Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to come to the Philippines in 1521. Also known
as Fernao Magalhaes or Fernando Magallanes, he was a Portuguese navigator working for the
King of Spain in search of the Spice Islands (now part of Indonesia, known as Maluku or
Moluccas islands). When he and his crews landed on Cebu Island, a native chief, Rajah
Humabon, met and befriended him. Rajah Humabon, his wife and hundreds of his native
warriors agreed to accept Christianity and were consequently baptized.

Magellan planted a cross to signify this important event about the propagation of the Roman
Catholic faith in what is now Cebu, in central Philippines. The original cross is reputedly
encased in another wooden cross for protection, as people started chipping it away in the belief
that it had miraculous healing powers. This prompted the government officials to encase it in
tindalo wood and secured it inside a small chapel called "kiosk." Some say, however, that the
original cross was actually destroyed. The Magellan cross displayed here is said to be a replica of
such cross. It is housed in a small chapel located in front of the present city hall of Cebu, along
Magallanes Street (named in honor of Magellan).

 http://www.hawaii.edu/cps/magellancross.html
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III. First Mass

The place is known for the first mass in the Philippines officiated on Easter Sunday of
March 31, 1521, by Father Pedro de Valderrama under the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan. The
mass was celebrated along the shores of Limasawa at the tip of Southern Leyte.

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

 http://evlearners.com/history-limasawa-island/

IV. Magellan’s Cross

Magellan's cross is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese and Spanish explorers led by
Ferdinand Magellan. They arrived in Cebu on April 21, 1521, spreading Christianity there, and
consequently to the whole country.

When Magellan first arrived in Cebu, he was met and greeted by Rajah Humabon. At that
time, they were not yet introduced to Catholicism. So, the King Humabon, his wife, and 800
natives were baptized by Father Pedro Valderama on April 21, 1521. It was the first Catholic
mass in the Philippines. Magellan had a large cross staked up near the ocean in the name of
Spain and the Catholic religion. The wooden cross signifies those events, and left an indelible
mark; it depicts the rich and colorful history of Cebu.

It is believed that the existing cross is the replica of the original one, which was already
destroyed. It is based on the sign that can be seen below the cross. The landing of Magellan in
Cebu and the planting of the true cross has been painted on the ceiling of the kiosk, where the
cross is now displayed.

 https://www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/Magellans-Cross-A-Tangible-Symbol-
of-the-Catholic-Faith-in-the-Philippines
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V. Historical Issues

Butuan has long been believed as the site of the first mass. In fact, this has been the
case for three centuries, culminating in the erection of a monument in 1872 near Agusan River,
which commemorates the expedition’s arrival and celebration of mass on April 8, 1521.

Toward the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20 th century, together with the
increasing scholarship on the history of the Philippines, a more nuanced reading of the
available evidence was made, which brought to light more considerations in going against the
more accepted interpretation of the first mass in the Philippines, made both by Spanish and
Filipino scholars

It must be noted that there are only two primary sources that historians refer to in identifying
the site of the first mass. One is the log kept by Francisco Albo, a pilot of one of
Magellan’s ship, Trinidad. He was one of the 18 survivors who returned with Sebastian
Elcanoon the ship Victoria after they circumnavigated the world. The other, and the more
complete, was the account by Antonio Pigafetta, Primo viaggio intorno al mondo
(First Voyage around the World). Pigafetta, like Albo, was a member of Magllan Expedition
and an eyewitness of the Events, particularly, of the first mass .

 https://www.academia.edu/38165265/FIRST_MASS_joan

The Saint James the Great Parish Church is a Spanish colonial church located at Brgy.
Germinal in Bolinao, Pangasinan,Philippines. The church was made out of black coral stones.
The church underwent series of natural and man-made calamities, such as the 1788 earthquake,
1819 fire incident, and Typhoon Emong in 2009.

Odoric did not return to Italy till the end of 1329 or the beginning of 1330; but, as regards
intermediate dates, all that we can deduce from his narrative or other evidence is that he was in
western India soon after 1321 (pretty certainly in 1322) and that he spent three years in China
between the opening of 1323 and the close of 1328. On one of his trips, his ship was nearly
capsized by a typhoon but they landed safely in Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines. He is said to
have held a Mass there, in around 1324. That would have pre-dated the Mass celebrated in 1521
by Ferdinand Magellan, which is generally regarded as the first Mass in the Philippines, by some
197 years. However, historian William Henry Scott concluded after examining Odoric's writings
about his travels that he likely never set foot on Philippine soil and, if he did, there is no reason
to think that he celebrated Mass.
 https://www.morefunwithjuan.com/2017/04/bolinao-saint-james-great-parish-
church.html
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LIMASAWA, Southern Leyte -- This island town celebrated the 495th First Mass on
Thursday with thousands of pilgrims who flocked to remember how Spaniards introduced
Christianity in the Philippines. The island town, the smallest in Southern Leyte province, is
considered the cradle of Christianity, the site of the first Mass in the country on March 31, 1521.
In his message, Bishop Precioso Cantillas of the Roman Catholic Church diocese of Maasin
echoed Pope Francis’ teaching on mercy and compassion. “As we celebrate at the door of the
shrine of the First Holy Mass, we open the door of compassion that whoever will have faith and
repent will receive forgiveness,” Cantillas said. Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado said
the celebration renews their commitment to continue the promotion of the island as tourist
destination. “We continue to promote unity for our people and take the challenge to continue the
promotion of our island through Republic Act 7822, declaring Limasawa as a tourist zone,”
Mercado said. The law was signed on November 18, 1994. The Sto. Niño de Cebu pilgrim image
arrived in Magallanes village through a fluvial parade from Maasin City to Limasawa early
Thursday morning, March 31, on board a Philippine Navy ship. The icon was brought to the
village plaza for the Holy Mass. The town’s six villages displayed their best products to visitors.
The island of Limasawa was the site of the first Mass in the Philippines when Portuguese world
explorer Ferdinand Magellan ended in the beautiful island looking for spices.
On Easter Sunday of March 31, 1521, Magellan ordered the expedition’s chaplain Fray Pedro de
Valderrama to say the mass. 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. The original cross has
been drawing thousands of tourists and pilgrims every year through a 450 steps trek going to the
landmark.

 https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/66093