(CNN) When a tornado battered southern Mississippi over the weekend, it yanked trees off the ground and tore through buildings at William Carey University.

When staffers combed the campus, sifting through the damage, they said they happened upon a stunning scene: An open Bible on the pulpit of the campus church, undisturbed by the surrounding debris.

The open page from Psalm 46, the staffers said, read: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Rick Wilemon, an adjunct art instructor at the private Christian college, snapped some photos of the Bible as it was found in the otherwise-damaged Bass Chapel after the EF-3 tornado hit Hattiesburg.

"No building was left untouched," Wilemon told CNN. "So many appear to be total losses."

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