What is the funny hanging lamp over the altar?
Actually, it is not a lamp, it is a hanging pyx. A pyx is a vessel to contain the blessed sacrament, the consecrated bread from the Eucharist which is used for communion of the sick. The idea of a hanging pyx is medieval English. One still sees hanging pyxes in some English cathedrals and churches, and in some very old church buildings, the evidence of the pyx which once hung over the altar still remains in the form of bracket outlines left over from the suspension apparatus removed during the reformation. The sacrament can be reserved in several ways—a tabernacle, which is a cabinet in the center rear of a high altar, an aumbry, which is a cabinet on one side of the sanctuary, and a sacrament house which is a free standing cabinet with architectural features. Our pyx is in the form of an orb surmounted by a maltese cross and a dove, a symbol of God the Holy Spirit. Our pyx is suspended over a free standing altar and operates by use of a cable which is suspended from the ceiling and co
