Blessed [belated] Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows! In honor of our Blessed Mother’s sorrowful sacrifice (and slam-dunk victory), I wanted to time the release of this novel for September 15th (slight delay due to logistics). May I present – The Woman of the Weeping Wilderness: The Legend of Our Lady of La Vang (available on Amazon.com here, or contact me for signed copies [while supplies last] at evanpham@holysmack.com).

I started this project about last year, Fall of 2024, after realizing that many of my Vietnamese-American peers, and Vietnamese people in general, don’t know the story of Our Lady’s 1798 apparition in our motherland, during the beginning of anti-Catholic persecution by the Vietnamese imperial government. After some reflection and research, I realized that there wasn’t even much of a surviving story of her apparition. Many remaining accounts are brief, have no narrative force, sparse with details, and are disjointed. Without a concrete context, developed characters, and plotline, it became a negligible anecdote in Vietnamese Catholicism, and that frustrated me.

So, I took the matter into my own hands, pulling the few facts, details, and cultural elements together, dramatizing and imagining plausible scenarios and miracles based on my own experiences with Our Lady and our Faith.

I began writing on May 11, 2025, and was stunned when I hit the final keystroke on June 21, only 41 days later. It was the fastest large-work I had ever written. I spent the rest of summer juggling between revising and pilgrimages, leisurely travel, another writing project, graduation parties, and outdoor adventures. By the time September neared, I knew the Legend was ready for more eyes (thank you all who read the novelette in advance and shared the needed feedback!).

Now, before more wasted words, may I present my best attempt to immortalize and perpetuate Our Lady of La Vang: The Woman of the Weeping Wilderness. By God’s grace, may my work glorify her Son and her love for Him and us.

And a loose translation (below) and recording of the Marian hymn featured in Chapter 21 (Mẹ Là Bóng Mát):

ĐK. Bóng mát (í i) che đầu, Mẹ là như bóng mát (í i) che đầu, Dưới nắng những ban trưa, trong mưa bao đêm sầu Mẹ vẫn che đầu. Khốn khó dắt con đi, gian nguy đưa con về Mẹ mãi chở che.
Chorus: Mother is like a shade comforting me. Under the [fiery] noon sun and the rain of sad nights, Mother comforts me under her mantle. Through trials, she leads me, through dangers, she brings me home, always protecting me.

1. Mẹ là như bóng mát, như làn hương thơm ngát như dòng suối êm đềm. Cho suốt cả đời conc luôn sống vui bình an sống vui bình an.
Verse 1: Mother is my shade, an aroma, a tranquil stream. For the rest of my life, I will live in joy and peace.

2. Mẹ là cây xanh thắm, che người đi trong nắng, mau về tới quê nhà. Cây lá tỏa ngàn hương con sống trong tình thương Sống trong tình thương.
Verse 2: Mother is a luscious tree, shading us from the hot sun as we rush home. The tree’s leaves fill all with a thousand fragrances, as I live in love, I live in love.

—And finally, an informal Vietnamese music playlist that helped me get into the writing zone, and reacquainted me with one of my languages. This also would be a great way to familiarize someone with how the Việt language properly sounds: