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The Smith family has always been an inspiration to Father Richard Carlino and they give a fresh new meaning to the old phrase, “The family that prays together stays together.”

You see every Sunday at St. John the Evangelist Church in Schenectady, the Smith family — numbering eight Smiths and two Woods (more on that later) — have sat together in the same pew for Sunday Mass for nearly two decades.

“What has always moved me deeply about the Smith family — and for almost 20 years at that,” said Father Carlino, pastor at St. John the Evangelist and St. Anthony’s, both in Schenectady, “is that during the recitation of the ‘Our Father,’ the entire family holds hands. It really has touched my heart. They are a precious gift to one another, to St. John’s parish community, and to me.”

The Smith family consists of parents, Ryan and Suzanne, along with their children, Timothy, 24, Grace, 23, Sam, 18, Henry, 13, James, 11, and Charlie, 9. And they are always joined by Eileen and Robert Wood, Suzanne’s parents, who get to St. John’s early on Sunday to reserve a pew.

“We come every Sunday,” said Suzanne. “We try to make Sunday a family day.” Usually after Mass, Suzanne said the whole crew will go out to an early dinner together as well. The day is one simple way for the Smiths to keep Christ at the center of their lives.

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