I was born in North Vietnam, second youngest of five girls and three boys. My father was a rice farmer. In 1954 the family escaped from the North and resettled in the South.

Sulpician seminaries in the cities of Saigon and Hue provided my training for the priesthood, and my ordination took place in 1968.

I served as an Air Force chaplain in the Vietnam War before being taken prisoner and spending six years in a “re-education camp.”

In 1986 I fled the country by boat and landed in Indonesia, then came to the United States the following year. Here my ministry flourished in the diocese of Orange, California. Desiring to find a place to thank God for all the wonders of my life, I entered the Abbey of Gethsemani on April 16, 1994. The writings of Thomas Merton, especially No Man Is An Island, were very instrumental in drawing me to Kentucky.

My duties in the community have been diverse and included bakery, fudge department, shipping room, maintenance crew, and sacristy.

This passage from St. John’s gospel capsulizes my spiritual journey: “From his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.” (Jn 1:16)