Pyx

(πύξος, the box-tree; hence a box, properly boxwood), the sacred vessel used in the Roman Catholic Church to contain the consecrated eucharistic elements, which are preserved after consecration, whether for the communion of the sick or for the adoration of the faithful in the churches. Already in the 4th century the host was kept in a special vessel, but this vessel was not called by its present name until the Councils of Tours and York in 1179. Its use was enjoined by pope Innocent III, in 1215, and by Odo of Rouen, in 1266, to be over or near an altar. The form of the Pyx has varied very much at different times. Anciently it was sometimes of the form of a dove, which was hung suspended over the altar. More commonly, however, it was, as its name implies, a simple box. Up to the 13th century the material was ivory, but subsequently, when it became rare, it was generally made of the precious metals, or at least of metal plated with gold or silver. At present, the pyx is commonly cup-shaped, with a close-fitting cover of the same material. The interior is ordered to be of gold, or at least plated with gold. Like all other sacred ntensils connected with the administration of the Eucharist, it must be blessed by a bishop, or priest delegated by a bishop. See Walcott, Sacred Archceol. s.v.; Siegel, Christliche Alterthumer (see Index in vol. iv); Barnum, Romanism, p. 476; Elliott, Romanisim; Chambers's Encyclop . sv. SEE CIBORIUM.