Abbot Brian Hugh Clarke

Abbot Brian Hugh Clarke, OSB

On 13 June 1975, Father Brian Clarke was elected seventh abbot of St. Mary’s Abbey. The community now numbering eighty, a slight increase due, in part, to the exodus from Newark Abbey during Abbot Leonard’s tenure. The first major challenge faced by Abbot Brian was the nearly total destruction by fire of the old monastery, now named “Vincent House,” on the night of 12 December 1975. The monastery library suffered serious damage from smoke and water but there were no major injuries to the residents of the building.  After considerable evaluation of the alternatives, the Chapter approved the reconstruction of Vincent House and it was reoccupied in 1977.

Early in 1977 the student body and faculty gathered in the garden to watch the removal of the Bernini statues known as Flora and Priapus, figures imported by Luther Kountze from the Borghese Gardens in Rome. They framed the gateway at the east end of the Italian Garden. After restoration by the Metropolitan Museum in New York they were exhibited, on loan, until they were finally sold to the Met in 1990.