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Durante il ritiro spirituale, ci si è abituati a una vita austera.

Durante il ritiro spirituale, ci si è abituati a una vita austera.
During the spiritual retreat, one got used to an austere life.
From Lesson 377:Impersonal 'ci si' in the past (ci si è + plural)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Durante il ritiro spirituale, ci si è abituati a una vita austera.

Why is it ci si here instead of just si for the impersonal 'one'?
The verb here is abituarsi (to get used to), which is reflexive and already uses the pronoun si. In Italian, you cannot say si si for the impersonal form of a reflexive verb. Instead, the first si changes to ci, making it ci si.
Why does the past participle end in a plural -i (abituati) if the auxiliary verb è is singular?
This is the special agreement rule for the impersonal ci si. When using ci si in compound tenses, the auxiliary verb is always the singular è, but the past participle must be plural. Since this sentence refers to people in general, it takes the masculine plural ending -i.
Why is the auxiliary verb è rather than ha?
All reflexive verbs, like abituarsi, use essere as their auxiliary in compound tenses. Additionally, the impersonal si construction itself always requires essere, making è the only correct choice.
Why do we need the preposition a after abituati?
The verb abituarsi (to get used to) must be followed by the preposition a when introducing what you are getting used to. Here, it links the verb to the noun phrase una vita austera.

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