Diskos

The diskos is made of gold-toned metal, in the form of a plate with a wide rim on a foot with a round base (deformed). Along the rim is a depiction of a hill with the instruments of Christ's Passion, and three stylized palm leaves with elongated cartouches set into them, bearing the Church Slavonic inscription: "Behold the Lamb of God," "who takes away," and "the sin of the world." The instruments of the Passion are shown in the form of a four-pointed cross with the letters "IC XC" ("Jesus Christ") in its side arms; to the left and right of the cross are a spear and a reed.

The diskos belonged to the pre-war collection of the Sloboda Ukraine Museum named after H. S. Skovoroda. During the Second World War it was evacuated and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.

Note: the diskos is a liturgical vessel on which the portions of the prosphora are arranged for Holy Communion (the sacrament of the Eucharist). It is a round metal plate with a wide flat rim (it may have a low foot). During the Liturgy, the diskos is covered with the star (asterisk) and a veil.

The diskos represents the vessel from which Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, took bread, broke it, and distributed it to his disciples with the words: "Take, eat; this is My body." The diskos is a symbol of the manger of Bethlehem, in which Jesus was laid after his birth. It is also a symbol of the Holy Sepulchre, since the Body of Christ rests upon the diskos.