Editing Pyx (section)

==Usage==
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2014}}
The word ''pyx'' comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word πυξίς, [[pyxis (pottery)| ''pyxis'']] 'box, receptacle'. (The Greek-like plural, ''{{linktext|pyxides}}'', has given way to ''{{linktext|pyxes}}'' in English.) While the word may be applied to any covered carrier, in modern usage the term "pyx" usually denotes a small, flat, clamshell-style container, often about the size of a [[pocket watch]] and usually made of brass or other metals,<ref>
Compare:
{{cite book 
 |editor-last1         = Watkin
 |editor-first1        = Aelred
 |translator-last1     = Watkins
 |translator-first1    = Aelred
 |year                 = 1947
 |title                = Inventory of church goods, temp. Edward III
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=hNtAAAAAYAAJ
 |series               = Volume 19 of Norfolk Record Society; Part 2 of Inventory of church goods, temp. Edward III
 |publisher            = Norfolk Record Society
 |page                 = lxxxiii
 |access-date          = 4 December 2023
 |quote                = Few descriptions of the pyx are given ... With regard to materials we have more evidence: silver is by far the most common, twenty-nine silver pyxes are listed, of which twenty-two were gilt ... Fifteen pyxes of ivory are recorded, four of brass, four of latten, two of copper, one of wood and one of pewter ... Therefore in the majority of churches the pyx over the altar consisted of a silver-gilt or ivory coffer ....
}} 
</ref>
traditionally lined with gold.<ref>
Compare: 
{{cite book
 |last1                = Middleton-Stewart
 |first1               = Judith
 |year                 = 2001
 |chapter              = Gilding the Liturgy
 |title                = Inward Purity and Outward Splendour: Death and Remembrance in the Deanery of Dunwich, Suffolk, 1370-1547
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=cvqd6S8zfJUC
 |series               = Studies in the history of medieval religion, ISSN 0955-2480, Volume 17
 |publication-place    = Woodbridge, Suffolk
 |publisher            = Boydell & Brewer
 |page                 = 183
 |edition              = revised
 |isbn                 = 9780851158204
 |access-date          = 4 December 2023
 |quote                = Gold, silver, ivory or copper gilt lined the inner [pyx] compartment so that only precious material would come into contact with the body of Christ, and, on the outside, enamelling might add a touch of luxury.
}} 
</ref>
A fabric or leather pouch for carrying a pyx is known as a [[Bursa (liturgy)|burse]]. Typically, this kind of burse can be securely closed and is fixed with cords so that the priest, deacon, or [[extraordinary minister of Holy Communion]] can affix it to his or her person during transport to prevent the consecrated host(s) from being accidentally lost.

These objects, and others, such as the [[Lunette (liturgy)|lunette]] (and the [[monstrance]] that holds it) that contain a consecrated host, are normally kept within the [[church tabernacle]] when they are not being carried. The tabernacle may be behind the main altar, at a side altar, or within a special Eucharistic chapel.