Editing Pyx

{{Short description|Small round lidded box}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Italian - Pyx with Arabesques in Quatrofoil Frames - Walters 71314 - View A.jpg|thumb|''Pyx with Arabesques in Quatrofoil Frames'', c. 13th century]]

A '''pyx''' or '''pix''' ({{langx|la|pyxis}}, transliteration of [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''πυξίς'', boxwood receptacle, from ''πύξος'', box tree) is a small round container used in the [[Catholic]], [[Old Catholic]], [[Lutheran]] and [[Anglican]] Churches to carry the [[Eucharist]], to the sick or those who are otherwise unable to come to a church in order to receive [[Holy Communion]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maxwell |first1=Lee A. |title=The Altar Guild Manual - Lutheran Service Book Edition |date=2007 |publisher=Concordia Publishing House |page=89}}</ref> The term can also be used in [[archaeology]] and art history to describe small, round lidded boxes designed for any purpose from antiquity or the Middle Ages, such as those used to hold coins for the [[Trial of the Pyx]] in England.

==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.

==Liturgical history==
In late antiquity, the custom developed in the East of suspending a vessel in the form of a [[dove]] (Greek: ''peristerion'', Latin: ''peristerium'') over the altar, which was used as a repository for the Blessed Sacrament. This custom is mentioned by [[Gregory of Tours]] in his ''Life of [[Saint Basil]]'', and in several ancient French documents. The custom probably came to [[France]] from the East; it never seems to have existed in [[Italy]].<ref>{{Citation | last =Catholic History | contribution =Dove. Symbol of the Holy Ghost | date =March 1997 | title =The Seraph | volume =XVII No. 7 | url = http://friarsminor.org/xvii7-2.html | access-date = 2007-08-01}}</ref>  Examples of this practice may still be found in use today; for instance, in the [[Cathedral of the Dormition]] in [[Moscow]].

==In Eastern Christianity==
{{more|Reserved sacrament}}
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Greek Catholic]] Churches, the ''pyx (''{{Langx|ru|даро́носица|translit=darónositsa}}) is the small "church tabernacle" which holds the [[Lamb (Liturgy)|lamb]] (host) that is reserved for the [[Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]] during [[Great Lent]]. This pyx may be either kept on the [[Holy Table]] or on the [[Prothesis (altar)|Prothesis]] (Table of Oblation) on the north side of the sanctuary.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Silver pyx MNMA Cl23528.jpg|[[Silver-gilt |Silver gilt]] pyx, south of France or Spain, 15th century ([[Musée de Cluny]])
File:Bronze pyx.JPG|Bronze pyx for carrying the Eucharist
File:French - Eucharistic Dove - Walters 443 - Profile.jpg|Eucharistic dove ([[Walters Art Museum]])
File:Rock crystal Pyx.jpg|Rock crystal with copper-gilt mounts pyx from 20th century ([[Hunt Museum]])
</gallery>

==See also==
<!--do not include any terms already appearing in the article-->
*[[Ciborium (container)]] 
*[[Paten]]

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links | wikt=pyx | commons= Category:Pyxes| b= no| n= no| q= no| s=no| v= no| voy=no | species=no| d=no| mw= no| display=Pyx}}
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12588a.htm Pyx] article from [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]
*A.S. Duncan-Jones and D. C. Dunlop, ''[http://anglicanhistory.org/england/warham/aumbry1925/ The Aumbry and Hanging Pyx]'' ([[Warham Guild]], 1925)

{{CatholicMass|collapsed}}

[[Category:Eucharistic objects]]
[[Category:Containers]]