A family in the Philippines has described as a “miracle” the survival of a Bible that remained intact after a house fire destroyed nearly all of their belongings.
Tragedy struck Catholic devotee Ruth Mary Repuyan and her family in November when their home caught fire in Ilocos Sur, in the Philippines. According to Viral Press, almost everything inside the house was reduced to black ash and melted debris.
Despite the devastation, the family returned home to salvage what they could. As they sifted through the ruins, Repuyan noticed a thick object partly buried beneath the scorched rubble. To their astonishment, it was a Bible.
In images shared online, Repuyan can be seen pulling out the family’s green-and-white Bible with no visible signs of scorching or melting. Even more remarkably, a second book found nearby was heavily damaged.
“We will celebrate Christmas with nothing left. Everything was burnt, and the only thing we have is the Bible. This is a miracle,” Repuyan said.
The Philippines is home to more than 99 million Christians, making it the largest Christian-majority nation in Asia.
Repuyan’s story is not the first of its kind. In 2019, a devastating fire destroyed a church in West Virginia. The blaze was so intense that firefighters from the Coal City Fire Department were forced to retreat at one point. However, when they later searched through the charred remains, they discovered that at least a dozen Bibles were intact among the rubble.
“In your mind, everything should be burned — ashes. Not a single Bible was burned, and not a single cross was harmed,” the department wrote in a Facebook post, according to CNN.