Quum vero {cam} <iam> auditorum suorum cordibus veritatis lucem adesse cognoscunt, clamoris sui magnitudinem in lenitatem dulcedinis vertunt, et non tam illa, quae sunt de paenis terribilia, quam ea, quae sunt blanda de praemiis proferunt. Qui etiam minutis tunc vocibus cantant, quia appropinquante mane subtilia quaeque de mysteriis praedicant, ut sequaces sui eo minutiora quaeque de caelestibus audiant, quo luci veri{ti}tatis magis appropinquant, et quos dormientes longus Galli clamor excitaverat, succisor vigilantes delectet. Quatenus correcto cuilibet de regno cognoscere subtiliter dulcia libeat, qui prius adversa iudicii formidabat. Est adhuc aliud in Gallo solerter intuendum, quia cum {a}edere cantus parat, prius alas excutit, et semetipsum feriens vigilantiorem reddit Quod patenter cernimus, si sanctorum praedicatorum vitam intuemur <vigilanter videamus>. Ipsi quippe, cum verbum praedicationis monent, prius se in sanctis actionibus exercent, ne in semetipsis torpentes opere, alios excitent voce, sed ante se per sublimia facta excutiunt, et tunc ad bene agendum alios solicitos reddunt. Prius cogitationum alis semet ipsos feriunt, quia quicquid in se inutiliter torpet, solicita investigatione deprehendunt, distincta animadversione corrigunt. Prius sua {putrire} <punire> fletibus curant, et tunc quae aliorum sunt punienda denunciant. Prius ergo alis insonant, quam cantus emittant, quia antequam verba exhortationum proferant, omne, quod {lecuturi} <locuturi> sunt, operibus clamant, et quum perfecte in semetipsis vigilant, tunc dormientes alios ad vigilias vocant.

But when by then they - the preachers - realize that that light of truth is present in the heart of their listeners, their change the intensity of their cackling into lightness of sweetness, and they begin to speak not so much of those terrible things regarding punishments, but of the tempting things regarding rewards. Then they also sing with faint voice, because with the approach of morning they preach whatever fine thing about mysteries, so that their followers may hear any kind of quite fine things about the heavenly ones since they are more approaching to the light of truth, and those whom the long cry of the rooster has awakened, the woodcutter can delights those who are awake. Since to know in smallest detail the sweetness regarding an improved realm would give pleasure to anyone who before was fearing the adversities of judgment. There is still something else to be attentively considered in the rooster, because when he is about to utter crows, he first flaps the wings, and, thus striking himself he makes himself more vigilant. We discern this quite evidently if we attentively glance at the life of the holy preachers. For, since they are teaching the preaching’s message, they first exercise themselves in holy actions, so that because of being idle with themselves they do not awaken the others by their voice, but first they do shake themselves by means of sublime deeds, and then they render others solicitous for doing good. They first strike themselves with the wings of meditations, because whatever is uselessly torpid in themselves they seize upon with careful investigation and correct it with a precise punishment. First they take care to punish their own faults with tears, and then they point out what must be punished in others. Then, before they utter the crow, they make din with wings, just as before they utter the words of exhortations they proclaim with their deeds everything which they are about to say, and since they are perfectly watching over themselves, then they call the others who are still sleeping to become awake.

Sed unde tanta {doctori haec} <haec doctoris> intelligentia, ut et sibi perfecte vigilet, et dormientes ad vigiliam sub quibusdam clamoris profectibus vocet, ut et peccatorum tenebras prius caute discutiat, et discrete postmodum lucem praedicationis ostendat, ut singulis iuxta modum, et tempora congruat, et simul omnibus, quae illos sequantur, ostendat? Unde ad tanta, et tam subtiliter tenditur, nisi intrinsecus ab eo, a quo est conditus, doceatur? Quia ergo laus tantae intelligentiae non praedicatoris virtus est, sed authoris, recte per eundem authorem dicitur. Vel quis dedit Gallo intelligentiam? Ac si diceret, nisi ego, qui doctorum mentes, quas mire ex nihilo condidi, ad intelligenda, quae occulta sunt, mirabilius instruxi.

But whence this such great intelligence of the teacher arises, that he is either completely vigilant by himself or calls the sleepers to vigilance with some increase of his clamor, so that he both before carefully drives away the shadows of sins, and afterwards discreetly points out the light of his preaching, so that it may be suitable for each one according to manners and times, and shows to all at once those things they are following? Whence does one move, and so subtly, to such great goals, unless one is taught inwardly by Him by Whom he has been created? Therefore, because the praise of such great intelligence is not a virtue of the preacher but of the author, and it is rightly said to be through the author himself: Or who gave intelligence to the rooster? As if He said, unless I, who taught rather marvelously the minds of the teachers which I have marvelously created from nothing in order to understand the hidden things.

Et tertia parte Pastoralis[1]. Ad beatum (inquit) Iob dicitur: Quis dedit Gallo intelligentiam? Praedicator etenim sanctus, dum calig<i>noso hoc clamat in tempore, quasi Gallus cantat in nocte, dum dicit: Hora est iam nos de somno surgere. Et rursum. Evigilate, iusti, et nolite peccare. Gallus autem profundioribus horis noctis altos {a}edere cantus solet: quum vero matutinum iam tempus in proximo est, minutas, ac tenues voces format, quia nimirum qui recte praedicat, obscuris adhuc cordibus aperta clamat, nihil de occultis mysteriis indicat, ut tunc subtiliora quaeque de caelestibus audiant, quum luci veritatis appropinquant.

And in the third part of the Regula Pastoralis. To the blessed Job (he says) it is said: Who gave intelligence to the rooster? For the holy preacher, while he cries out in this gloomy time, is almost as a rooster who crows at night, when he says: By now it is time for us to awake from sleep. And again. Wake up, ye just men, and stop to sin. For the rooster is accustomed to utter loud crows in the more deep hours of the night, but when the morning time is by now at hand, he utters small cries thin and feeble, because who preaches rightly declares things that are clear to hearts still in darkness, does hint nothing at hidden mysteries, and then they hear any subtle thing coming from heavens when they are approaching to the light of truth.

Sed inter haec ad ea, quae iam superius diximus, charitatis studia, retorquemur, ut praedicator quisque plus actibus, quam vocibus insonet, et bene vivendo vestigia sequacibus imprimat, ut potius agendo, quam loquendo, quo gradiatur, ostendat, quia et Gallus ipse, quem pro exprimenda boni praedicatoris specie in locutione sua Dominus assumit, cum iam {a}edere cantus parat, prius alas excutit, et semetipsum feriens vigilantiorem reddit, quia nimirum necesse est, ut hi, qui verba sanctae praedicationis monent, prius studio bonae actionis evigilent, ne semetipsi torpentes opere, alios excitent voce. Prius se per sublimia facta excutiant, et tunc ad bene vivendum alios solicitos reddant. Prius cogitationum alis semet ipsos feriant, et quicquid inutiliter torpet, solicita investigatione deprehendant, {districta} <distincta> animadversione corrigant, et tunc demum aliorum vitam loquendo componant. Prius punire propria fletibus curent, et tunc quae aliorum punienda sunt denuncient, et antequam verba exhortationis insonent omne, quod locuturi sunt, operibus clament. Unde recte dicebat venerabilis Beda[2]. Gallum puto esse unumquemque sanctorum, qui in nocte, et tenebris huius mundi accipiunt per fidem intelligentiam, et virtutis constantiam clamandi ad Deum, ut {aspiceret} <aspiciat>[3] iam dies permanens, et amoveantur umbrae vitae praesentis, qui urgent etiam sequenti clamore precum suarum, dicentes. Emitte lucem tuam, et veritatem tuam: Quod de Prophetis intelligere possumus, qui certatim annunciaverunt diei et Solis adventum. Christus salvator noster, quia peccata populi tulit, Gallus ut exponit Iacobus de Vitriaco Cardinalis, etiam dicitur dormientes excitans, et quasi calcaribus com<m>inationum, ut eis verbis utar, pungens, et stimulans.

But amid these matters let us return to those studies of charity which I spoke of earlier, so that each preacher can chatter more with deeds than with shouting, and by his good life he impresses traces in his followers, so that he shows rather by action than by speech until where it is possible to arrive, just as the rooster himself, whom the Lord takes for the purpose of expressing a figure of good preacher in his speech, when by now he gets ready to utter crows first flaps his wings and striking himself he makes himself more vigilant, because it is in fact necessary that those who pour out the words of the holy preaching to firstly awake with the pledge of a good action, so that being thoroughly flustered they do not awake others by voice. First they get a move on by means of sublime deeds and then they make others solicitous to live a good life. First they strike themselves with the wings of reasoning and with careful examination seize whatever is uselessly sluggish in themselves and they correct this with a careful analysis, and then finally they set aright the lives of others by speaking. First they take care to punish their own faults with tears, and then they denounce those faults which must be punished in others, and before the words of their exhortation resound, their deeds proclaim everything they are about to say. Hence the Venerable Beda rightly said: I think that is a rooster each one of the saints who in the night and in the deep shadows of this world is receiving through faith the intelligence and the constancy of the skill of crying out to God so that He should watch over them while it is still day and that the shadows of their present life should be kept away, they who are pressing with the following shout of their prayers when saying: Send forth Thy light and Thy truth: We can understand this by prophets who in rivalry have announced the advent of the day and of the sun. Christ our Savior, since bore the sins of the people, as Cardinal Jacques de Vitry explains, is also said rooster, since he awakes those who are sleeping, and, to use those words, as if he was pricking and stimulating them with the spurs of his threats.

Cum vero de Galli cantu inter Evangelistas, qui Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum iam ad salutiferam mortem rapiendum D. Petro dixisse tradunt eum se ter negaturum, antequam Gallus cantaret, quaedam videatur controversia, itaque conciliare eos placuit, priusquam mysticum eius cantus sensum explicemus. Cum enim tres Evangelistae asserant, Dominum dixisse, Petrum se ter negaturum, antequam Gallus cantaret: non autem omnes dicant quoties Gallus cantaret, Marcus[4] hoc solus narravit expressius, inquiens: Antequam Gallus bis vocem dederit, quod [263] quomodo postea sit impletum in sequentibus distincte enarravit, ex quo consequitur, Petrum non ter Galli cantu Dominum negasse, ut dicunt tamen tres Evangelistae.

Since it seems that concerning the cockcrow there is some controversy among the Evangelists, who are handing down that Our Lord Jesus Christ, when by now was around to be dragged to the rescuer death, told Saint Peter that he would have denied Him thrice before the cock crowed, therefore it seemed proper to me to reconcile them before I explain the mystic sense of its crowing. For, since the three Evangelists assert that the Lord said that Peter would deny Him thrice before the cock crowed, but not everyone of them is saying how many times the cock would have crowed, only Mark told this with more precision in saying: Before the cock has crowed twice, and he told with exactness in the following verses as later on this would be fulfilled, whence it follows that Peter did not deny our Lord when the cock crowed thrice, as nevertheless the three Evangelists say.