Mai Thanh Lương was born in Trực Ninh of the province and near the city of Nam Định on 20 December 1940, the youngest of nine children.
[3] In 1956, he was sent by the Bishop of Da Nang to continue his studies in the United States, where he enrolled at a diocesan seminary in Buffalo, New York, two years later.
[4] Although ordained for the Diocese of Da Nang, the increasing violence of the Vietnam War prevented him from returning to his native country.
[2] He pursued postgraduate studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, where he earned a Master of Science degree in biology and psychology in 1967.
[2] In 1976, Luong was incardinated in the Archdiocese of New Orleans at the invitation of Archbishop Philip Hannan, who assigned him to the spiritual care of Vietnamese refugees in southern Louisiana.