I pray to the Father THROUGH Christ, my mediator and intercessor. I see no scriptural basis or examples for asking the dead to interceed on our behalf. If you know of any, please lay it out here and I will study it with the Holy Spirit being my interpretor.
My apologies for the double posting. The original reply didn't show up even with numerous refreshes of my browser.
That's part of the problem, since the Protestant Bible cut out the deuterocanonical books which have Scriptural passages which Catholics refer to in these teachings.
Now your getting into some deep Theology. In my belief of the Trinity I don't look at Christ as a mediator or intercessor. Rather as Savior and Truth, God the Son. I pray to God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.