Pyx

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This article refers to an object used in Christian church services. For the British coinage procedure, see Trial of the Pyx. Pyx is also the abbreviation for the constellation Pyxis.

A brass pyx for carrying the consecrated host

A pyx or pix (Latin: pyxis, transliteration of Greek: pyxis, box-wood receptacle, from pyxos, box-tree) is a small container used in the Catholic Church and Anglican Churches to carry the consecrated host, the Eucharist, to the sick or invalid or those otherwise unable to come to a church in order to receive Holy Communion.

The word pyx comes from the Greek word πυξίς, "pyxis" meaning box or receptacle. The plural is pyxides. 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 or other metals, traditionally lined with gold. A fabric pouch in which the pyx may be carried is known as a burse.

The term pyx is standard in the Catholic Church and refers to a flat, circular container, sometimes called a lunette, 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 Eucharist host. This is used together with a monstrance for exposition and Benediction services. The lunette is often kept in another object, itself sometimes called a pyx or 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 a safe or cabinet within the tabernacle.

[edit] Eastern Christian

In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, the term pyx may be used as an English term to describe the small tabernacle which is used to contain the Lamb (Host) which is reserved for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts during Great Lent.