The Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life (SEDL) programme in Vietnam entered its 12th year with the opening of its 2026–2027 formation year on 6 September at the Đắc Lộ Jesuit Center in Ho Chi Minh City. SEDL is designed for those who wish to discover and live the experience of the Spiritual Exercises amid the concrete realities of everyday life.
SEDL rests on a foundational conviction of Ignatian spirituality: God is continually at work in the world and in the life of every person. God is present in events, relationships, work, responsibilities, joys, and even in the deepest longings of the human heart. SEDL therefore helps participants develop “a heart and eyes of faith,” so that they may recognise God’s presence, action, and call within the very fabric of their daily lives.
In 2010, Fr Eli Thành SJ (born Julian Elizalde), a Spanish Jesuit missionary, began offering a form of “Thao Luyện Nhẹ Nhàng” (literally, “Gentle Exercises”), drawing on materials developed by Fr Joseph Tetlow SJ. This marked the beginning of an approach to the Spiritual Exercises suited to those continuing to live amid their daily responsibilities.
In 2015, Fr Eli brought the “Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life” materials from the Salamanca Center of Spirituality in Spain to Vietnam and translated them into Vietnamese. On 8 September 2015, the first SEDL course was officially inaugurated at the Đắc Lộ Center. Since then, the programme has steadily grown into an established initiative of Ignatian formation within the Jesuit mission in Vietnam. In 2018, Fr Eli retired and returned to Spain, where he now resides at a Jesuit retirement community. Other Jesuits have since taken over responsibility for SEDL.
Fr Eli Thanh SJ, founder of the SEDL programme in Vietnam
The Spiritual Exercises amid ordinary life
What distinguishes SEDL is that participants undertake the Ignatian journey while remaining fully engaged in their daily lives. Retreatants continue to live within their families, workplaces, and communities, while committing to regular times of prayer, examen, and discernment. What they experience each day becomes the very material of their prayer, helping them to recognise God’s action within the ordinary texture of life.
The programme, which lasts nine months, is structured into five stages. Stages 1 and 2 serve as an Introduction to the Experience of God; Stages 3 and 4 lead participants to Deepen the Experience of God; and Stage 5 constitutes the full Spiritual Exercises. The time committed to daily prayer also increases progressively at each stage: retreatants commit to at least 15 minutes of daily prayer in Stage 1; 30 minutes in Stage 2; 45 minutes in Stage 3; and 60 minutes in Stages 4 and 5. Through this gradual process, retreatants are invited to discover their Christian identity, deepen their relationship with God, and contemplate Jesus in order to learn from Him how to live and how to serve.
Alongside personal prayer, group accompaniment plays an essential role. Once a week, for approximately 90 minutes, retreatants gather to share their experience of prayer and to support one another in their journey of discernment. On the afternoon of the first Sunday of each month, SEDL holds a special Mass for retreatants across all stages.
More than a decade on, SEDL continues to be a way of bringing the experience of the Spiritual Exercises into the rhythm of contemporary life, helping people recognise God at work in their own lives and respond to His call with greater freedom, love, and generosity.
