About Our Lady of Lavang · Hampton, Virginia
Our Lady of Lavang is a Vietnamese Catholic parish in Hampton, Virginia, belonging to the Diocese of Richmond. Founded in 1993, it serves the Vietnamese-American Catholic community of the Virginia Peninsula and shares a pastor with its sister parish, Our Lady of Lavang–Vietnam in Norfolk. All Masses are celebrated in Vietnamese, reflecting the parish's mission to provide spiritual care in the language and devotional tradition of Vietnamese Catholics, centered on the Marian apparition of Our Lady of La Vang in 1798.
- Established
- 1993
- Patron
- Our Lady of La Vang (Đức Mẹ La Vang)
- Rector
- Rev. Joseph Phien Nguyen
- Diocese
- Catholic Diocese of Richmond
Why belong here
Our Lady of Lavang offers a dedicated worship space for Vietnamese Catholics in Hampton, with every Mass celebrated in their native language — a rare treasure on the Virginia Peninsula. The parish is tied to the deep national devotion to Our Lady of La Vang, the patroness of Vietnamese Catholics, so newcomers find the Mass, the music, and the devotional life rooted in the same Marian tradition that shaped their faith back home. Sharing a pastor with the Norfolk Vietnamese community, the parish connects parishioners across Hampton Roads for catechesis, sacraments, and Vietnamese cultural celebrations.
Mass times at Our Lady of Lavang
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish Identity
Our Lady of Lavang is a Vietnamese-heritage Roman Catholic parish in Hampton, Virginia, founded in 1993 as part of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. It is dedicated to the Vietnamese Catholic community of the Virginia Peninsula and takes its name from the 1798 apparition of Our Lady of La Vang. The parish is listed as parish #644 in the diocese's parish directory and is grouped in Deanery 4.
- Parish name: Our Lady of Lavang – Vietnam
- Diocese: Catholic Diocese of Richmond
- Deanery: 4
- Diocesan parish number: 644
- Year founded: 1993
Patron: Our Lady of La Vang
The parish is named for the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of La Vang (Đức Mẹ La Vang), a Marian devotion central to the spiritual life of Vietnamese Catholics. According to tradition, Catholics hiding in the rainforest near La Vang in Quảng Trị Province during anti-Catholic persecution were visited in 1798 by an apparition of the Virgin Mary in traditional áo dài, holding the Christ Child and accompanied by two angels, who comforted them and instructed them to boil local leaves for medicine.
- Devotion traces to an 1798 Marian apparition in Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam.
- Our Lady of La Vang is the patroness of Vietnamese Catholics worldwide.
- Feast day observed in the parish: August 15.
- The original shrine of Our Lady of La Vang is the Basilica of Our Lady of La Vang in Hải Lăng District, Quảng Trị Province.
Clergy & Pastoral Leadership
The parish is staffed by a single pastor who also serves the sister Vietnamese Lavang parish in Norfolk, ensuring continuity of Vietnamese-language pastoral care across Hampton Roads.
- Pastor: Rev. Joseph Phien Nguyen
- Pastor email: [email protected]
- Pastor also serves as pastor of Our Lady of Lavang – Vietnam, Norfolk (parish #650).
Parish Office & Contact
Parish offices are staffed Tuesday through Friday during the morning and early afternoon. The parish shares a Norfolk mailing address with its sister parish, while the worship site is located on Whealton Road in Hampton.
- Worship location: 318 Whealton Road, Hampton, VA 23666
- Postal address: 1806 Ashland Ave, Norfolk, VA 23509-1236
- Phone: (757) 232-1424
- Office email: [email protected]
- Pastor's email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Tuesday–Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sister Parish in Norfolk
Our Lady of Lavang in Hampton is part of a two-site Vietnamese ministry in the Diocese of Richmond. A sister parish under the same name and devotion was founded in 1995 in Norfolk, and the two communities share pastoral leadership and a mailing address.
- Sister parish: Our Lady of Lavang – Vietnam, Norfolk
- Norfolk worship location: 409 Campostella Rd., Norfolk, VA 23509
- Norfolk parish founded: 1995
- Single pastor (Rev. Joseph Phien Nguyen) serves both sites.