French - Eucharistic Dove - Walters 443 - Profile

A peristerium, or Eucharistic dove in the Western church, is a metallic vessel, in the shape of a

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

(

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

), which can be hung over an altar, most often in

Eastern Christian Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...

churches.

Purpose

Western eucharistic doves were used in medieval churches to keep consecrated hosts from the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

(the Blessed Sacrament). These consecrated Hosts are in the Pyx, which could be put into it by a flap in the back of the dove's body. Many were made in Spanish or

Limoges enamel Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal o ...

, with generally only the wings and eyes in enamel, the rest being gilded. German theologian Matthias Joseph Scheeben wrote of the significance of using a peristerium to hold the Eucharist in ''The Mysteries of Christianity'': "How striking and well devised was the ancient usage of reserving the Eucharist in a receptacle symbolic of the Holy Spirit in a vessel fashioned in the form of a dove — in the so-called ''peristerium''! How beautifully the Holy Spirit was thus symbolized as He who brings and fashions the gift contained in that receptacle; as He who, encompassing and permeating that gift as fire does the coal, dwells therein with His essence and His power!"

Icon

The dove is a widely used symbol of the Christian Church. It symbolizes the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

, is an attribute of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and was later one of the apostles. As a symbol of resurrection, pigeons were placed in the tombs of the martyrs. Also grave lamps in the form of doves were common.

Literature

* Bonaparte: ''Iconography of the pigeons'', Paris, 1857.

References

{{Reflist Eucharist Birds in religion