November 6 -- Feast of Saints Efflamm and Honora

Not much of a dragon nipping his heels

Let me get the confession out of the way right now -- Efflamm's acknowledged to be a saint but his wife is not. Of course, Hagiomajor's a canon unto itself, and in it, the spouses who accept the vows of chastity as wedding presents are accorded their share of the sainthood.

Honora was as greatly desired for her nubility as for her nobility.  Yet she declined all offers of marriage, holding out hope that a deal could be struck for the hand of Efflamm, a handsome young prince.  She got her way, sort of.  He slipped out of the wedding bower before consummation on some flimsy excuse.  While she waited patiently, he bolted for the shore and scrambled to find a boat to take him across the channel.  Not finding one, he jumped into an old trunk, part of the flotsam and jetsam that had washed up on the beach.  It must have been a friendly tide and a fair wind, because morning found him on a beach in Brittany. 

He got there just in time to find some dragon kicking King Arthur's ass.  Arthur, you know, was king of Brittany as well as Britain, and as king he was tasked with slaying all the beasties that menaced his subjects.  The exhausted king asked Efflamm for a drink of water.  The saint struck a rock with his stick, bringing forth a cool, clear fountain.  Refreshed by the healing water, Arthur rose to fight the dragon further; it fled into the sea and drowned.  Efflamm was invited to take a seat at the Round Table, but of course he declined, knowing that Camelot is a silly place. 

That's more like the monster Efflamm helped defeat

Honora, finally acknowledging that she was abandoned on her wedding night, burst into a flood of tears.  She cried all day, but that night she shared a dream-vision with her husband.  Efflamm advised her to follow him to Brittany and save her soul.  She agreed, saying that she didn't mind the chastity, but she did not want to be separated from him.  And who are we to say she is not a saint? 

They lived long, performed many miracles, and died on the same day, he on his bed in his hut, she on her bed in the hut next door.