Efflamm

Holy Venerable Efflamm was born in Britain or Ireland and died in Brittany in the late 6th century (the year is not known). He was a hermit and abbot of a monastery he had founded. His life is semi-⁠legendary. He is a saint of the undivided Church.

A late tradition, put together in the 11th century at Tréguier to legitimise the origins of the monastery there, makes him the son of an Irish king, married very young to Enora, a king's daughter, though bound by a vow of chastity; an angel helped him resist temptation, and he fled to Brittany, landing at Plestin-⁠les-⁠Grèves in Trégor, where he lived for a time with Saint Iestyn. According to another tradition, his father forced him to marry to make peace, but the two never lived as husband and wife; he and Enora consecrated themselves to God in a hermitage in the forest.

A legend, retold in 1636 by Albert Le Grand, says that on arrival Efflam saw a terrible dragon come out of the forest, which claimed each Christmas Eve a human victim of royal blood; King Arthur was pursuing it. Efflam drew a spring from the ground, prayed before the monster's lair, and the dragon rushed into the sea and drowned. The legend marks the victory of Christianity over paganism and is tied to the dangers of the bay, where many travellers drowned with the tide. Efflam was accompanied by disciples whose names survive in local place names: Kirio, Tuder, Kemo, Haran, Nerin.

He is commemorated on 6 November, the liturgical date in the Orthodox calendar (the same day number on the old and new calendars).