DISCO (Δίσχος, Δισχάριον). — In the Eastern rites this name is given to a small metal plate (gold, silver, or gilded brass), deeper than the Western paten but serving the same purpose. The Slavs use a stand or foot beneath it to make it easier to carry. It is the complement of the chalice and sometimes forms a single piece with it: διασχάριον. On the disco are arranged, on the altar of the prothesis, the Lamb (the host of the sacrifice) and the particles in honor of the saints, the dead, and the living. Formerly this preparation was entrusted to the deacons, but today it is reserved to the priests.
Some commentators say that the disco is the bier on which Nicodemus and Joseph, who represent the deacons, laid the body of the Lord. The disco has its own special veil (διασχάριον), and is carried above the head by the deacon when, in the liturgy, the oblations are transferred from the prothesis to the high altar. After the Communion of the faithful, the deacon carries it back empty to the prothesis. In the ordination of a priest, according to certain Slav usages, the bishop delivers to the newly ordained presbyter a disco in which he has placed a particle of the consecrated bread. The disco, like the chalice, does not require special consecration to be used. Nevertheless, in the consecration of a church, these objects are united with the altar, and some manuscripts contain a special rite for their consecration. A disco, generally wider and deeper, is also used to hold the relic of the Holy Cross on the third Sunday of Lent, dedicated to the adoration of the Cross.