As a Russian Orthodox priest intoned traditional prayers in a handsome tenor voice to new army conscripts and their parents, more hands were scratching heads and wiping noses than making the sign of the cross. Despite their apparent lack of religious experience, 30 young draftees from Bryansk and southern Moscow received a blessing for their upcoming two years of compulsory military service during the United Russia-sponsored prayer service at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. It seemed no small coincidence that the service -- which organizers called a "spiritual patriotic" event -- came on the same day that thousands of communists were rallying across the country to commemorate the 1917 Revolution. Crews from state-connected television channels including Channel One, Russia Today and NTV crowded around the conscripts in the church. The conscripts, who will begin serving this month, were sprinkled with holy water and received icons and prayer books. Speaking to journalists, several said they were Orthodox believers and that serving their term in the military would be easier with the blessing. Artyom Pigarev, from Bryansk, mentioned the recent movie blockbuster "Company 9," about the Afghan War, as an inspiration for serving in the army The young men wore civilian clothing and had not had their heads shaved yet. Lieutenant Colonel Igor Sadovnikov, who accompanied the Bryansk group, said the conscripts would serve all over Russia, including the North Caucasus and the Far East. Asked why the conscripts had earlier told reporters that they would be stationed in Moscow and the Moscow region, he chuckled, "That`s what they think." Sadovnikov said it was the first time that the Bryansk military enlistment office had participated in such an event and that the occasion was linked to Bryansk Governor Nikolai Denin`s donation of a new bell to the church. The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, located near the Avtozavodskaya metro station, in southeastern Moscow, commemorates soldiers who died in the Battle of Kulikovo of 1380 between Russians and the Golden Horde, and it houses the relics of two warriors. Priest Vladimir Silovyev, who led the prayer service, said that conscripts traditionally received such blessings and that he had blessed many soldiers leaving for service in Chechnya. Silovyev reminded the conscripts that priests had also prayed with troops before the Battle of Kulikovo and wished them a peaceful stint in the army that would nurture them spiritually and morally rather than a tour in the "fields of death." No one mentioned the old Nov. 7 holiday, which celebrated the Revolution, but many mentioned the new People`s Unity Day holiday, which was celebrated for the first time last Friday. The Kremlin says that the new holiday represents unity among the Russian people and is linked to Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin`s driving Polish invaders out of Moscow in 1612. Sergei Popov, the chairman of the State Duma committee in charge of religious organizations and a member of United Russia, said the gathering was a continuation of Friday`s celebration of Russian unity and that the Russian Orthodox Church was the country`s moral compass. In addition to the prayer service, the event featured the planting of cedar saplings, a performance by a military band and a folk music concert. The Moscow Times