The rooster
David Hiebert
The rooster has its symbolic roots in the first Easter. It calls to mind Peter's denial of Christ, and his eventual awakening and repentance. For medieval Europeans, a rooster's alertness drove away robbers, announced the beginning of a new day and called the faithful to work and prayer. During the Protestant Reformation, Reformers in Switzerland replaced the cross on church steeples and other public places; they felt that the cross had become corrupted by the occult, with people attributing to the cross magical powers over evil. For Reformers, the rooster came to mean the awakening of a new day of faith.
David Hiebert lives in Scottdale, Pa.
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