St. Cyril of Jerusalem

The Lord is loving toward men, swift to pardon but slow to punish. Let no man, then, despair of his own salvation. Peter, the first and foremost of the Apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl; but he repented and wept bitterly. Weeping is demonstrative of repentance from the depth of the heart, which is why he not only received the forgiveness of his denial, but also kept his apostolic dignity without forfeit.