What is a ciborium?
What is a ciborium? A ciborium is defined as a large, covered cup – such as a chalice or goblet – which features a cover, usually surmounted by a cross. A ciborium is used in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and related churches to contain and distribute the hosts for the sacrament of the Holy Communion.
What is the purpose of a ciboria?
Ciboria were placed over the shrines of martyrs, which then had churches built over them, with the altar over the spot believed to be the site of the burial. They also served to shelter the altar from dust and the like from high ceilings that could only rarely be reached. The Euphrasian Basilica, Istria, now in Croatia.
Do ciboriums ever stand over an altar?
A very famous ciborium that apparently did not stand over an altar was one that apparently functioned as a quasi-reliquary shrine or symbolic tomb for the missing remains of St Demetrius of Thessaloniki in Hagios Demetrios, the large and important church erected in Thessaloniki over the mass grave in which he was traditionally buried.
What is a silver gilt ciborium?
Silver-gilt ciborium. A ciborium (plural ciboria; Medieval Latin ciborium (drinking cup), from the Ancient Greek κιβώριον kibōrion, a type of drinking-cup) is a vessel, normally in metal.
What does the ciborium symbolize in the Catholic church?
21–22). In medieval Latin, and in English, "Ciborium" more commonly refers to a covered container used in Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and related churches to store the consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion.
What holds the hosts distributed at communion?
Sometimes called the "bread box", the pyx is a small container, typically made of silver or gold, that holds the communion wafers prior to the consecration and distribution of the host. In some circumstances the pyx might be used to carry the body of Christ for distribution.
What is the difference between a ciborium and a patent?
The ciborium is typically deeper than a paten (which is the shape of a plate) and has a lid. The pyx is a small round case for safely and properly transporting the Eucharist to the sick and homebound. The monstrance with the luna is used to display the consecrated Body of Christ for Eucharistic adoration.
What holds the host in Catholic church?
The host is placed in a holder called a lunette, which fits into an opening behind the glass. Monstrances are commonly used during eucharistic adoration, in which the faithful come to pray to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
What is the difference between chalice and ciborium?
ciborium, plural Ciboria, or Ciboriums, in religious art, any receptacle designed to hold the consecrated Eucharistic bread of the Christian church. The ciborium is usually shaped like a rounded goblet, or chalice, having a dome-shaped cover.
Can a priest refuse communion on the tongue?
Every Catholic has a right to receive Holy Communion in the most reverent way they deem, in the hand or on the tongue.”
What happens if a non Catholic takes communion?
If you don't profess the Catholic faith, then it isn't appropriate to act as if you do. (Technical point: in very rare circumstances and only with the Bishop's permission, a Protestant who believes the teachings and requests Communion can receive the Eucharist [ CCC 1401].
What is the plate called that holds the Eucharist?
patenA paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium.
What happens if you take communion without having first communion?
“Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession,” the Catechism adds. St.
Can you touch the monstrance?
When priests or deacons bless the people with the monstrance, they cover their hands with the ends of the veil so that their hands do not touch the monstrance as a mark of respect for the sacred vessel and as an indication that it is Jesus present in the Eucharistic species who blesses the people and not the minister.
What do we mean when we say Mary is the monstrance?
A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium (or an ostensory), is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharistic host during Eucharistic adoration or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
What is the tablecloth on the altar called?
pallThe pall (palla) is a stiffened square card covered with white linen, usually embroidered with a cross, or some other appropriate symbol. The purpose of the pall is to keep dust and insects from falling into the Eucharistic elements.
What is the purpose of the Ciborium?
In medieval Latin, and in English, "Ciborium" more commonly refers to a covered container used in Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and related churches to store the consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion.
What is the container used for the host?
Other containers for the host include the paten (a small plate ) or a basin (for loaves of bread rather than wafers) used at the time of consecration and distribution at the main service of Holy Eucharist. A pyx is a small, circular container into which a few consecrated hosts can be placed.
What is a ciborium?
Ciborium, plural Ciboria, or Ciboriums, in religious art, any receptacle designed to hold the consecrated Eucharistic bread of the Christian church. The ciborium is usually shaped like a rounded goblet, or chalice, having a dome-shaped cover. Its form originally developed from that of the pyx, the vessel containing the consecrated bread used in ...
What is the name of the vessel that holds the bread used in the service of the Holy Communion?
Its form originally developed from that of the pyx, the vessel containing the consecrated bread used in the service of the Holy Communion. Medieval ciboria were small and often had spire-shaped covers above a cylindrical bowl.
Is a ciborium a consecrated vessel?
After the Reformation, ciboria became larger and gradually acquired their present rounded form. The ciborium is not a consecrated vessel and needs only a blessing before it is first used. The vessel can be made of either silver or gold, but the interior of the cup must be lined with gold.
What is the purpose of the Ciborium?
The ciborium arose in the context of a wide range of canopies, both honorific and practical, used in the ancient world to cover both important persons and religious images or objects. Some of these were temporary and portable, including those using poles and textiles, and others permanent structures.
What is a ciborium?
In ecclesiastical architecture, a ciborium ("ciborion": κιβώριον in Greek) is a canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that stands over and covers the altar in a basilica or other church. It may also be known by the more general term of baldachin, though ciborium is often considered more correct for examples in ...
What is the baldachin in Rome?
There are exceptions; Bernini 's structure in Saint Peter's, Rome is always called the "baldachin". Early ciboria had curtains hanging from rods between the columns, so that the altar could be concealed from the congregation at points in the liturgy. Smaller examples may cover other objects in a church.
What is the ciborium in the sanctuary?
The altar and ciborium are often set upon a dais to raise it above the floor of the sanctuary. A ciborium is also a covered, chalice -shaped container for Eucharistic hosts. In Italian the word is often used for the tabernacle on the altar, which is not the case in English.
What is the Gothic style of Ciborium?
The Gothic style of ciborium was also borrowed for some public monuments like the Albert Memorial in London, as it had been in the Middle Ages for the outdoor Scaliger Tombs in Verona. For other post-Renaissance versions, many variations of the basic square four-column plan, see the next section.
What was the roof of the Capitello used for?
A medium-sized 13th-century ciborium in a corner of San Marco, Venice, known as the capitello ("little chapel"), was used for the display of important icons and relics in the Middle Ages.
Where did the word "ciborium" come from?
The word "ciborium", in both senses, is said to derive from the cup-shaped seed vessel of the Egyptian water-lily nelumbium speciosum, which is supposed to have been used as a cup itself, and to resemble both the metal cup shape and, when inverted, the dome of the architectural feature, though the Grove Dictionary of Art, the Catholic Encyclopedia and other sources are somewhat dubious about this etymology, which goes back to at least the Late Antique period. An alternative is to derive the word from cibes ("food"). Both senses of the word were in use in classical times. The word "baldachin" derives from a luxurious type of cloth from Baghdad, from which name the word is derived, in English as "baudekin" and other spellings. Matthew Paris records that Henry III of England wore a robe "de preciosissimo baldekino" at a ceremony at Westminster Abbey in 1247. The word for the cloth became the word for the ceremonial canopies made from the cloth.
What is a ciborium?
Definition of ciborium. 1 : a goblet-shaped vessel for holding eucharistic bread. 2 : baldachin specifically : a freestanding vaulted canopy supported by four columns over a high altar.
Where does the word "ciborium" come from?
History and Etymology for ciborium. Medieval Latin cibōrium "altar canopy," going back to Latin, "drinking cup," borrowed from Greek kibṓrion "seed pod of the water lily Nelumbo nucifera, cup resembling this pod," of obscure origin. Note: Though the water lily Nelumbo nucifera was called the "Egyptian bean" in Greek ...
Where is Nelumbo Nucifera native to?
Note: Though the water lily Nelumbo nucifera was called the "Egyptian bean" in Greek ( Aigýptios kýamos )—unless this was in actuality a different plant— Nelumbo nucifera is native to South and Southeast Asia and it is uncertain if it was ever cultivated in Egypt.
What material is used in the ciborium?
The material should be gold or silver (base metals are sometimes allowed), but the interior of the cup must be always lined with gold. The ciborium is not consecrated, but blessed by a bishop or some priest deputed by him, according to the form given in the Roman Ritual.
What is the paten used for?
In Eastern Churches the paten is commonly used for the distribution of Communion, and the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in gold or silver boxes covered with silk and suspended from the altar-canopy in accordance with ancient custom.
