First Mass in the Philippines  The first Catholic Mass in the Philippines was held on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday. It was said by Father Pedro de Valderrama along the shores of what was referred to in the journals of Antonio Pigafetta as "Mazaua". Today, this site is widely believed by many to be Limasawa at the tip of Southern Leyte, though this is contested by some who assert that the first mass was instead held at Masao, Butuan. When Ferdinand Magellan and his European crew sailed from San Lucar de Barrameda for a expedition to search for spices, these explorers landed on the Philippines after their voyage from other proximate areas. On March 28, 1521, while at sea, they saw a bonfire which turned out to be Mazaua (believed to be today's Limasawa) where they anchored. On March 16, 1521 as they sailed in a westerly course from Ladrones or known as Mariana Island at the present, they saw land towards the northwest but they didn't landed there due to shallow places and later found its name as Yunagan. On that same day, they went in a small island called Suluan which is a part of Samar and there they anchored. Leaving from those two islands, they sailed westward to an island of Gada where they took in a supply of wood and water from that island, they sailed towards west to a large island called Seilani (now Leyte). Along the coast of Seilani, they sailed southwards and turned southwest until they reached the island of Mazava. From there, they sailed northwards again towards the Island of Seilani and followed the coast of Seilani towards northwest and saw three small islands. They sailed westwards and saw three islets where they anchored for the night. In the morning, they sailed southwest. There, they entered canal between two island, one of which was called Subu (now called Cebu) and the other was Matan (now called Mactan). They sailed towards southwest on that canal then turned westward and anchored at the town of Subu wherein they stayed there for many days. Antonio Pigafetta was a famous Italian traveller who studied navigation and known by the name of Antonio Lambardo or Francisco Antonio Pigafetta. He joined the Portuguese, Captain Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish crew on their trip to Maluku Island. Pigafetta has the most complete account of Magellan expedition entitled .