I had never heard of Raymond Diocres before and it is a stunning story. It reminds me of Lazarus and the rich man, where the rich man asks Father Abraham to have Lazarus go to warn his five brothers so that they will not end up in Hell with him.
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 16: 27-31.
God allowing a poor damned soul to give a warning indirectly led to the foundation of the Carthusian Order. A somber reminder that if all the world speaks well of us it matters not a whit in the eyes of God.
