The meditation focuses upon the intense moments following Peter's angry denial of Jesus. It moves from the increasingly acrid and aggressive disowning of any knowledge of his close friend, the sudden realisation of what he has done, the murmuring background of the watching crowd, and then on to the gentle, reproachful glance of an abandoned Lord, with its accompanying sorrowful falling motif of "Peter!".

The meditation concludes with references to the ancient plainsong hymn "Vexilla regis prodeunt" ("The royal banners forward go"), concluding with a pianissimo "Ave Rex gloriae" — a phrase which, according to a classicist colleague, contains an equally poignant ambiguity. Does "Ave" in this context mean "Hail King of Glory!", in anticipation of Easter triumph, or is it the saddest expression of a friend bidding "Farewell"?