Prayer for a son departing for military service

O Lord, Eternal God, King of all the world!

For the protection of borders and for the preservation of justice and peace, You permit nations and peoples to use the sword and maintain a military balance. As our son departs from us by Your will to serve the Fatherland, we pray to You, O God, make him faithful to his calling, and do not allow him to lose his soul. Grant him strength, patience, and endurance in this difficult service. And above all, O God, give him strength against the enemies of his soul, so that by Your All-Holy mercy he may preserve his holy faith and the purity of his soul. You Yourself, O God, know what great danger threatens the soul of our son during his military service, and how many occasions there are to fall into sin. Therefore, we fervently ask You: protect him from those dangers, and keep him for us as good and conscientious as he is when he departs from us.

Most Holy Virgin, powerful Protectress of innocent souls! We entrust our son to Your mighty—in Christ the Lord—Heavenly Protection. We know and firmly believe that if, through Your maternal intercession, the Holy Spirit and God's guardian angels take special care of him and watch over him constantly, he will not stain his innocent soul with any sin. Stretch over him Your Holy Omophorion entrusted to You by the Lord, and do not let him go even when he returns home safely. Amen.

Fr. Oles August Chumakov

Source: kyrios.org.ua