Cloud of peace

For the feast of St Joseph, here is another of the beautiful Odes of Solomon, a collection of ecstatic hymns probably from the early 2nd century:

The gentle showers of the Lord overshadowed me with serenity,
and they caused a cloud of peace to rise over my head
that it might guard me at all times,
and it became salvation to me.
Everyone was disturbed and afraid,
and there came from them smoke and judgment.
But I was tranquil in the Lord's legion;
more than shade was He to me, and more than foundation.
And I was carried like a child by its mother;
and He gave me milk, the dew of the Lord.
And I was enriched by His favor,
and rested in His perfection.
And I spread out my hands in the ascent of myself,
and I directed myself towards the Most High,
and I was redeemed towards Him.
Hallelujah.

Quote: Odes of Solomon, 35 (2nd cent.) ; trans James Charlesworth.