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.
A frightening and shocking story.
I must be the “ Counter” Devil’s Advocate, though, and observe that the Devil often wants to frighten us to the degree that we will give up on our efforts toward salvation and reparation for our sins.
One way “he” does so is by shocking and disturbing events to discourage us and urge us to “give up.”
If the story is authentic, and since we do not know the disposition of the soul of Raymond Diocres before God, and will not til the Last Judgment, it would not be below the Devil’s capacity for wickedness to occupy the dead body of a respected man considered to be holy just to appear to resuscitate it like a puppet and to shock and dismay the Faithful. S. Ignatius Loyola encountered a number of circumstances in his life where the extremely cunning preternatural activity of the Devil tried to discourage him from following God’s calling.
Just a “Counter” Devil’s Advocate’s observation.