PISSIDE

**PYXIS**

A liturgical vessel used for the consecration of the Eucharist for Communion. From Greek πυξίς, πυξός, Latin *pyxis*, meaning a box, round or polygonal container for medicines, ointments, perfumes, etc., made of boxwood, other wood, or metal, but especially ivory. The oldest known specimens date from the 4th to the 9th centuries. It is obvious that Christians would have needed some object or container to bring the Eucharist to their homes or to the faithful detained in prisons. Damasus mentions St. Tarsicius carrying the sacred sacraments of Christ, and St. Cyprian refers to a chest in which the Lord’s sacrament was kept (*De lapsis*, 26: PL 4, 501).

In the early centuries of Christianity, and even after the peace of the Church, for perhaps two centuries, pyxides were produced with mythological scenes, which were among the toiletries of the *mundus muliebris*, intended to hold jewelry or perfumes. These pyxides later became part of liturgical furnishings and were used to preserve the consecrated bread. However, due to a lack of documents, it is impossible to determine the precise time when pyxides began to be used for preserving the Body of the Lord. The *Liber Pontificalis* (I, pp. 176, 220, 243), which uses the word *turris* because of the shape of such objects intended for the Eucharist, mentions them in the biographies of Sylvester (314–35), Innocent I (401–17), and Hilary (461–68). It is reasonable to consider as an Eucharistic pyxis a small box (5th century) made of two very thin bronze plates, one depicting a martyrdom scene and the other Christ with the jars from the wedding at Cana, along with the Greek word εὐλογία.

Notable is the pyxis from St. Mark’s in Thebes, Egypt, discovered in an abandoned Coptic village at the time of the Arab invasion (mid-7th century); it is a circular bronze vessel with three supporting feet, a handle, and an opening, surmounted by a cross, which seems to have been used to carry consecrated wine for Communion under both kinds to the sick. Another bronze specimen may have been the pyxis, of which only the lid remains, surmounted by a dove, now in the Château-Borely Museum in Marseille. Ivory pyxides preserved in various museums, with mythological decorations, show their original secular use; but in others, which may also date to the 4th century, Christian subjects are evident.

The oldest specimen (4th century) is the pyxis in the Berlin Museum, depicting Christ teaching among the twelve Apostles and the Sacrifice of Abraham. However, almost always, the carving and execution of ivory pyxides are quite rudimentary and show Byzantine influences. Among these is the so-called Carthaginian pyxis, now in the Civic Museum of Livorno, dated to the 4th century, where the Lord is seated and at His feet are two baskets of bread which He distributes to the disciples, who receive them with their hands covered by the edge of their cloaks. In the cathedral of Pesaro, another cuboid pyxis is preserved, variously attributed to the 4th–6th centuries, depicting Jesus healing the man born blind and the hemorrhaging woman, and the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter. Other ivory pyxides are in the museums of Berlin, London (with scenes of St. Menas), Bonn, Cologne, and Leningrad (Basilewsky Collection), some with mythological subjects and others with Gospel scenes; notable among these is the one from Brioude (4th century) with Orpheus. In Italy, specimens are found in Bobbio at St. Columban’s, in the Civic Museum of Bologna, in Florence, and in Rome, in the Christian Museum of the Vatican Library (from the treasure of the Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateran), depicting the healing of the man born blind in a still classical style; in the same museum, a cylindrical box with the healings of the blind man, the paralytic, and the resurrection of Lazarus; in the Baths Museum (from the *Kirchenarion*), a fragment of a pyxis with the nimbed Lamb between two lambs, and another bone pyxis of barbarian art with the Sacrifice of Abraham and Gospel scenes, found in the cemetery of Nocera Umbra. Among the oldest pyxides preserved to us is also the magnificent and large one that is part of the Eucharistic treasure of Canoscio (Città di Castello), a work from the 5th century.

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Medieval pyxides, like later ones, have the appearance of cylindrical boxes protected by a lid, and their decoration reflects the styles of the periods in which they were created, whether in reliefs more or less figurative or in chased or enamel work. Over time, the pyxis was then provided with a tall stem, also adorned according to the era and regional taste.

Among the medieval pyxides of particular beauty is the one adorned with filigree and precious stones from St. Cunibert’s in Cologne; a very elegant one with the slender forms of a tall stem in the Cluny Museum in Paris, a work from the 13th century; another adorned with Limoges enamels in the Germanic Museum in Nuremberg, and so on.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, with the development of Gothic architectural forms and their incorporation into goldsmithing, metal pyxides often took on the appearance of small temples placed on a tall stem, sometimes blending their character with that of monstrances (e.g., Cologne—Schnütgen Museum).

However, the type later adopted and maintained throughout the Renaissance, the Baroque period, and into modern times has been that of a chalice surmounted by a lid and adorned on the foot, stem, cup, and lid itself—always surmounted by a cross—with friezes, symbolic images, or allegorical depictions alluding to the Eucharist.

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**LITURGY**

From the 12th century, a foot with a knop was added to the pyxis; its form gradually assimilated to that of the chalice, with the cup initially polygonal and later round. This form is still preserved today; but after the Council of Trent, when the use of private Communion outside Mass increased, especially following the decree of Bl. Pius X, the cup became wider. There are no prescriptions regarding the material; it must be metal; only the cup and lid must be entirely gilded. St. Charles Borromeo refers to a cross surmounting the lid. The pyxis is to be blessed; a blessing formula is already found in the so-called *Missale Francorum* (entitled *Praefatio chrismalis*). For carrying Viaticum to the sick, a small round pyxis in the form of a theca is used today. Out of reverence for the sacred Eucharist contained within, the pyxis is covered with a white silk veil.

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