A portable bier or shrine, variously adorned, used for containing relics of saints.

From the Greek pheretron,bier: a large reliquary shrine in the form of a sarcophagus or coffin with a parallelepipedal container surmounted by a roof with two slopes ( a saddleback roof) in a manner of a catafalque.

In Christianity: A shrine for relics designed to be carried in processions; kept behind the high altar.