DISCUS (Dískos, Diacárion). - In the Eastern rites this name is given to a small metal plate (of gold, silver, or gilded brass), deeper than the Western paten, but serving the same purpose. The Slavs use to place beneath it a support or foot to carry it more easily. It is the complement of the chalice and sometimes forms a single word with it: διακατατήριον. On the d. are placed, on the altar of the prothesis, the Lamb (the oblation of the sacrifice) and the particles in honor of the saints, the departed, and the living. Once this preparation was entrusted to the deacons; today it is reserved to the priests.
The d., say some commentators, is the litter on which Nicodemus and Joseph, who represent the deacons, laid the body of the Lord. The d. has its own special veil (διακατάλειψιον) 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 cheirotonia of a priest, according to certain Slavic customs, the bishop hands to the new presbyter a d. in which he has deposited a particle of the consecrated bread. The d., like the chalice, in order to be used, does not require a special consecration. However, in the consecration of a church, these objects are joined together with the altar, and some manuscripts contain a special rite for their consecration. A d. is also used, generally wider and deeper, to deposit in it the relic of the Holy Cross on the third Sunday of Lent, dedicated to the adoration of the Cross. Placido de Meester