The Roman Catholic Church teaches its followers to pray to and for Mary and other "dead saints."
The Council of Trent said:
If anyone says that the sacrifice of the Mass is one only of praise and thanksgiving; or that it is a mere commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross but not a propitiatory one; or that it profits him only who receives, and ought not to be offered for the living and the dead, for sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other necessities, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. [165]
According to Trent, it is profitable to offer Masses for both "the living and the dead."
Furthermore, Trent also proclaimed:
If anyone says that it is a deception to celebrate Masses in honor of the saints and in order to obtain their intercession with God, as the Church intends, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. [166]
The Catechism teaches:
The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness.... They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.... So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."
Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life. (St. Dominic, dying, to his brothers.)
I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. (St. Therese of Lisieux, The Final Conversations, tr. John Clarke (Washington: ICS, 1977), 102.) [167]
Roman Catholic apologists claim that our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that are in heaven are very much alive there, and it is good to ask them to pray on your behalf just like you would ask your brothers and sisters in Christ on earth to pray for you.
Dr. Joe Mizzi pointed out the flaw in this line of reasoning:
We note that praying to the saints is not equivalent to asking fellow Christians for prayer. This excuse may be convincing to some Christians who never had any personal experience of the Catholic religion. Otherwise, every Catholic (and former Catholic) knows that praying to Mary or the saints is completely different than asking a fellow believer for prayer.
Suppose a Christian brother comes and kneels before you, imploring you with great devotion to pray for him. Would you allow him? How would you react if he calls you his advocate, his hope and refuge? What if he thanks you for the many graces you conferred on him and for delivering him from hell? Suppose he tells you that he confines his salvation to your care and pleads with you to stay with him until you see him safe in heaven? Would you call that "asking a fellow Christian for prayer"? Of course not! That kind of prayer and confidence is nothing less than divine worship and it should be directed only to the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet that is exactly the kind of prayer that Catholics offer to Mary and the saints.
We should underline the fact that death disrupts the interaction between saints on earth and saints in heaven. As Christians we also believe in the communion of the saints - whether we are on earth or in heaven... However that does not imply that death does nothing to the interaction between us! We all know something of the painful and terrible reality of death separating us from our loved ones... there is no communication between the departed and us. That's why the Bible forbids us from trying to communicate with the dead. Dead saints remain part of the body of Christ, but there is an effective separation from the living saints... We must face the sad consequence of death: separation! [168]
Believers don't need to make contact with spirits of the dead to seek their intercession with God Almighty. As children of God, members of His family, we have the right to go boldly before the Throne of Grace with our petitions. We can appeal to our heavenly Father directly. [169]
The Bible makes it clear that we do not need dead saints to intercede on our behalf. We can go boldly before the throne of grace because Jesus is our mediator.
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16, emphasis mine).
Also pertinent to this discussion is the immutable fact that God has forbidden communication with the dead at:
Loraine Boettner insightfully asked:
How, then, can a human being such as Mary hear the prayers of millions of Roman Catholics, in many different countries, praying in many different languages, all at the same time?
Let any priest or layman try to converse with only three people at the same time and see how impossible that is for a human being... The objections against prayers to Mary apply equally against prayers to the saints. For they too are only creatures, infinitely less than God, able to be at only one place at a time and to do only one thing at a time.
How, then, can they listen to and answer thousands upon thousands of petitions made simultaneously in many different lands and in many different languages? Many such petitions are expressed, not orally, but only mentally, silently. How can Mary and the saints, without being like God, be present everywhere and know the secrets of all hearts? [170]
Praying to Mary or any other dead saint is a foolish and blasphemous practice that is against both common sense and Biblical commandments.
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