Ana,

We don't pray to Mary because she is God. She is a Christian, like us, only she is on the other side of the veil. We ask other Christians to pray for us, and the holier, the better: the prayers of a righteous man availeth much, cf. James 5:16. Saints, as we call the Christian Hall of Fame, are fantastic prayer warriors and they are in the presence of God to a degree we can't imagine. Since Mary is the most blessed woman who ever lived, being Jesus' mom, she is a great advocate for all Christians who she loves as her own.

We are one body in Christ and while we are separated by a veil, the dead in Christ are not dead. They can see and hear us as God allows because he wants us to be united and caring for one another (cf. Hebrews 12).

• Remember how Jesus met Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor?
• What was the point of that if not to encourage Jesus to go on through the immense suffering He would undergo?

Jesus did not see it as a problem to contact the deceased. Jesus is the example for all of us and while we don't typically meet and greet the spirits of other-worldly persons, especially because there are too many dangerous ones around, we can safely ask for help from those who are in Christ, for they are in the care and protection of the Lord and have conquered the forces of evil by His grace.

So praying to saints is not prayer in the sense of worship or adoration that we give to God alone but rather a calling for intercessory prayer on our behalf from our brothers and sisters, and from Mary, the mother in Christ.

We regard Mary as our mother too, in a Christian family sense, since Jesus gave her to the disciple whom He loved, from the Cross (John 19:25-27) — which is an anonymous figure there, as it is all throughout John's Gospel to signify it is everyone, not simply John, who is referenced in those episodes.

Peace,

Bob Kirby