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gone to Confession precisely in order to "make their First Saturday devotion." At the time of
making their Confession, however, they forgot to formulate an intention of offering it as an act of
reparation to the Immaculate Heart. Will the Confession count, she asks, toward performing the Five
First Saturdays, in spite of not being specifically offered as an act of reparation? Our Lord
answered in the negative.

The case is obviously the same for the Rosary, the fifteen minute meditation, and the Communion of
Reparation. Clearly it is not enough to have a mere general purpose in mind of "making the Five
First Saturdays." Formulating an intention of reparation with each act is essential to this
devotion.

Zealous confessors help their First Saturday penitents to remember to form their intention by
asking, "Do you wish to offer this Confession as an act of reparation to the Immaculate Heart?" In
the same way, It you are making the First Saturdays as a family, it is a very good practice for the
one leading the Rosary or meditation to begin with a reminder to everyone in the group to form
their intention, such as by saying, "We offer this Rosary (or meditation) in reparation for the
blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

We should not be discouraged if we have difficulty remembering to form our intention, even if this
causes us to have to repeat some of the devotions. We should simply accept Our Lord's invitation
through these circumstances to make another Confession sooner than we otherwise would have, or to
repeat the other devotions, as the case may be.

An important distinction arises in this regard, however. The Communion, the Rosary, and the
meditation (unlike the Confession) must be made on the First Saturday itself. Thus if we realize
our oversight before the First Saturday has passed, we can make another meditation or pray another
Rosary, this time making the necessary intention, without compromising our progress through a set
of consecutive First Saturdays. But if the First Saturday has passed when we realize that we forgot
to form our intention for the Rosary or meditation, we will need to start our five First Saturdays
again. Likewise, since we receive Holy Communion only once per day, we would have to start the
devotion again if we forget to formulate our intention at the time of the Communion.