A tradition going back to manuscripts contemporary with Bernard himself places the Retractatio6 at the head of the treatise.7 It is certainly an important document, not so much because of the correctives it brings to the text as for what it tells us about the author. It assures us that he “practices what he preaches.” It may be spirited, but it certainly is the expression of a truly humble man. Where he had been wrong, he readily confessed it. He had no desire to conceal it; he wanted