Peter and the Church

Petrus autem sequebatur a longe, et reliqua Mirandus est, et tamen venerandus, qui Dominum non reliquit, etiam cum timeret. Quod enim timet, naturae est: quod sequitur, devotionis; quod negat, obstreptionis; quod poenitet, fidei. Mystice, quod ad passionem eumdem Dominum a longe sequitur Petrus, significabat Ecclesiam secuturam quidem, hoc est imitaturam Domini passiones; sed longe differenter, Ecclesia enim pro se patitur, at ille pro Ecclesia. Sanctus Beda, In Matthaei Evangelium Expositio, Liber IV, Cap XXVI

And Peter followed from afar... 1 Wonderful it is, and also worthy of reverence, that he did not abandon the Lord even though he feared. For that he feared is of nature and that he followed is of devotion; that he denied, of turmoil, that he repented, of faith.  That Peter followed the Lord to the passion from afar spiritually signifies the future following of the Church, the imitation of the sufferings of the Lord, but with a separation of difference, for the Church suffers for itself, He for the Church. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Book 4, Chap 26 1 Mt 26.58