Ciborium (container)

A ciborium (Latin ciborium " cup " majority ciboria ) is a commonly used in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches container for storage of consecrated hosts.

The ciborium is an edible cup with a solid lid. The consecrated at the Mass communion wafers are kept in the Tabernacle for the sick communion. It is sometimes given with a ciborium with a prayer and the sacramental blessing, as usual with the monstrance. The ciborium may be covered with a Ziboriumvelum to illustrate the presence of the Blessed therein.

In the early Church the Holy of Holies was not kept for fear of desecration in the churches. Later, the Christians preserved the communion wafers, which were intended for food for the journey: in the administration of the last rites in their homes in a ciborium on.

In the early Middle Ages, the ciborium was usually made ​​in bush form of precious wood, ivory or metal and provided with a cross. In the late Middle Ages, the shape of the ciborium had so very nearly the shape of a chalice that only the cap conclusion illustrates the difference. In some areas, therefore, is also the name "food cup " common. Theologians and art historians see today in the choice of form as chalice for the communion wafers a deception of the faithful, after the Catholic Church had in 1415, the chalice, the reception of the consecrated wine, forbidden for laymen, but the reformers advocated the "lay chalice ".

The same ciborium with the Ziboriumvelum