Fleischmann, Seckau, Officium Divinum Parvum and Christuslob

The Benedictine Abbey of Seckau in Austria was home to Fr. Hildebrand Fleischmann, OSB, compiler of VOLKSBREVIER, (original edition in 1933), which ran for several editions. In 1947, with the encouragement of the Fulda Bishops' Conference, he compiled the first OFFICIUM DIVINUM PARVUM, which became very popular among religious communities and the laity; it continued to be edited and published by the Herder Company in several succeeding editions, and was translated into several languages, an English edition appearing in 1959. After his death, the book was adjusted to reflect many of the changes of the Second Vatican Council and assumed a new title, CHRISTUSLOB and included music and marked psalmody (see the 1969 and 1977 editions) so that the office could be sung in its entirety. Eventually, in 1986, this book adopted a four week psalter; it is still very popular in German-speaking areas.