THE CIBORIUM

When the number of communicants is great it is customary to administer the consecrated Particles to them from a sacred vessel shaped somewhat like the Chalice, but much more shallow and wide in the cup, called a Ciborium, from the Latin cibus, food. In ancient times the Ciborium meant the canopy of the altar, from which a contrivance shaped like a dove, and generally fashioned of gold or silver, used to hang for the purpose of reserving the Blessed Sacrament (Kozma, p. 87). Whilst the Ciborium contains the Holy Eucharist it is always kept under lock and key in the tabernacle, unless when it is necessary to give Holy Communion or to purify it.