ARTOFORIO (ἀρτοφορίου). — In the Eastern Church it denotes the receptacle for the Blessed Eucharist, which is usually kept in a tabernacle shaped like a small church, above the high altar or above that of the prothesis. In many places, however, it is preserved in a container resembling an apple, suspended from the canopy of the high altar. The lamp which must always burn, an inextinguishable light, between the apse and the altar, is not intended so much for the artoforio as for the whole sanctuary.
Placido de Meester