| Father Brian was born in Newark on June 21, 1930, the second of four children, (one girl and three boys) of Patrick and Catherine Clarke. He attended Saint Peter’s Grammar School in the Clinton Hill section of Newark and then Saint Benedict’s Prep School, also in Newark. He worked part-time while in high school for the Prudential Insurance Company. He attended Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, P.A., for two years before entering the novitiate, and earned a B.A. in Philosophy. He then studied four years of Theology at Saint Mary’s School of Theology in Morristown, N.J., while teaching Theology at Delbarton School.
After ordination to the priesthood in 1958, Father Brian was assigned to teach English at Saint Benedict’s Prep School in Newark from 1958-1964, while assisting at Saint Peter’s in Bellville and Saint Michael’s in Cranford on weekends. In 1964, Father Brian was assigned to one of the Abbey parishes, Saint Benedict’s in the Down Neck section of Newark for a year and then to another Abbey parish, Sacred Heart in Wilmington, Delaware, for two years. He also served as a hospital chaplain.
Father Brian was appointed Novice Master for Saint Mary’s Abbey in Morristown in 1967, while earning a M.A. degree in English Education. He was appointed Prior of Saint Mary’s Abbey in 1972. From 1967 until 1975, he assisted on weekends at Saint Joseph’s Parish in High Bridge, N.J. and helped the pastor with his duties as chaplain at the Annandale Reformatory.
Father Brian was elected Abbot of Saint Mary’s Abbey in 1975, and served as the president of the Delbarton School. He continued in this role until 1995. He also assisted at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Cedar Knolls before undertaking a year of sabbatical studies to Dublin, Ireland and Ein Karim, Israel, returning in 1997. He assisted at Christ the King in New Vernon on weekends and resumed teaching at Delbarton. Father Brian joined Saint James in Basking Ridge in 1998 and continues to offer Mass every weekend.
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