And Peter remembered the word of Jesus: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And going out, he wept bitterly.
These words are the moment of Peter’s heart being reborn. The rooster’s crow becomes a reminder of the Lord’s prophecy, and that remembrance opens the door of his conscience. “He wept bitterly” means not merely tears of regret, but an inner pain with the awareness of love lost. Those tears are cleansing, not condemning. Peter goes out—not only from the courtyard, but from the state of his denial; he leaves the darkness and begins the path of return. This shows the nature of true repentance: when a person recognizes his fall, that recognition opens for him the way of the heart toward God’s mercy, where pain is transformed into repentance, and repentance into the beginning of a new life.