Leyteños celebrate 485th anniversary of Limasawa Mass

As Leyteños celebrated yesterday the 485th anniversary of the First Mass in Limasawa Island, Bishop Precioso Cantillas of Southern Leyte, in his homily, spoke of love and service to one another even in the absence of a tragedy.

Cantillas reminded the people that there are more who are desolate and who need help many times over in different aspects than those who shall have been stricken by a tragedy.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who was invited as keynote speaker in yesterday's celebration said that, "the message of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass first held here resonates with greater meaning in Southern Leyte."

"Its commemoration of the death that saved mankind assures us that the deaths of those who perished in the mud shall not have been in vain," she added, referring to the February 17 landslide that hit barangay Guinsaugon in St. Bernard town, Southern Leyte.

She further said that the sacrifice of approximately a thousand who perished in the said tragedy was a call to communion, and a proof that death is universal.

Further, she said that the incident carries the message of hope with a deeper meaning this time, which she saw in the "calm and resolute hands" of Southern Leyte Governor Rosette Lerias, and in the eyes of the people, "who saw in that mud not just buried dreams, but a new ground for rebuilding."

"And so on this 485th commemoration of the First Mass... we see life beyond death. We embrace the promise of Easter. We see the beginning of another beginning. Here in Limasawa, where it all began," Garcia said.

To mark the historic event, a Mass was held on top of the highest hill in barangay Magallanes, municipality of Limasawa where a shrine now stands to remind the people of the very site where the First Mass in the country was celebrated by Fr. Pedro de Valderama on an Easter Sunday in March 31, 1521.

Southern Leyte government officials and 41 parish priests of Maasin City, the provincial capital of Southern Leyte, attended the celebration.

Among the government officials present aside from Garcia and Lerias were Limasawa town mayor Albert Esclamado, Southern Leyte representative Roger Mercado, Central Command chief, Lt. Gen. Samuel Bagasin; and Major General Ramos Bonifacio, the commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Region 8. - Cristina C. Birondo