5863. If evil spirits were to perceive their own presence with a person and their own separateness as spirits from him, and if they were able to exert a direct influence on the functions of the person's body, they would try in a thousand ways to destroy him, since they harbour a murderous hatred of him. Knowing that I was a person still in my body they were constantly trying to destroy me, not only in body but above all in soul; for the destruction of man, or of any spirit, is the greatest pleasure in life for all in hell. But the Lord constantly kept me safe from destruction. This shows how dangerous it is for a person to be in direct contact with spirits unless he is governed by the good of faith.