Today we go to Palazzola for a retreat, so that we can reflect on all that has happened over the last two months and maybe, to relax a little. As you can see from the photo, Palazzola is the ideal setting, in the hills outside Rome and overlooks Lake Albano. The house is run by the Venerable English collage, at one time being their summer residance in the days when seminarians were not allowed home. The prsence of the English there dates back to 1579, when seminaries were set up ffor the emglish missions, to escape the persecutions of the reformation.
The site however has been the home of Christian communities since the 8th century, when hermits began to dwell in the caves there. These hermits later became Augustinian, the Cistercians taking over the site in 1244.
During the last war the English semianarians had to flee home and the Germans occupied it. Artillery positions being set up there to defend the beaches at Anzio during the allied invasion. The Allies bomb the site causing extensive damge. When the war finished, the English college returned and it is now restored and quite beautiful. It should be a wonderful weekend.
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