They were praying when a lady appeared, wearing the traditional Vietnamese áo dài dress and holding a child in her arms, with two angels beside her.

The people present interpreted the vision as the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus Christ.

In 1961, the Catholic bishops of Vietnam selected the Church of La Vang as the National Sacred Marian Centre.

Though there is no official Vatican recognition of this event as a Marian apparition, on June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II publicly recognized the importance of Our Lady of La Vang and expressed desire to rebuild the La Vang Basilica in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the first vision.

[1] But Pope John Paul II affirmed that there has been no documentation in the Vatican of Our Lady's Apparitions in La Vang.