Fearing the spread of Catholicism, Emperor Canh Thinh banned the practice of Catholicism. Soon thereafter the emperor made an anti-Catholic edict which made the practice of Catholicism punishable by death. Many Catholics sought refuge in the rainforest of La Vang in Quang Tri Province. While hiding in the rainforest, the small community would gather every night at the foot of a tree and pray. One night, an apparition surprised them. In the branches of the tree, a lady dressed in the traditional Vietnamese dress (ao dai), holding an infant in her arms with two angels beside her, appeared. The people who witnessed this apparition said that the lady and the infant was the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. They said that the lady comforted them and told them to boil the leaves from the tree for medicine to cure the illness.