Pyx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article refers to an object used in Christian church services. For the British coinage procedure, see Trial of the Pyx.
A pyx or pix is a small container used in the Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and Anglican Churches to carry the consecrated host, the Eucharist, to the sick or invalid or those otherwise unable to come to a church building to receive Holy Communion.
The word pyx comes from the Greek word πυξίς, "pyxis" meaning wooden receptacle. While the word may be applied to any covered carrier, in the modern usage the term is usually applied to small, flat, clamshell-style containers often about the size of a pocket watch and usually made of brass, traditionally lined with gold. A fabric pouch in which the pyx may be carried is known as a burse.
The term pyx is sometimes also used of the luna or lunette, a flat, circular container composed of a ring of metal (usually lined with gold) holding two glass or crystal disks, to create a round, flat glass-enclosed space for the Eucharistic host. This is used together with a monstrance for exposition and Benediction services. The lunette is often kept in another object sometimes called a pyx, sometimes called a custodia, which is usually a round box often on a small stand, giving the impression of a faceless old-fashioned alarm clock.
All of these objects, when filled with a consecrated host, are normally kept in sort of safe or cabinet within the church, the tabernacle.
