Well, good for you. It's about time you mentioned this (unless I missed it somewhere earlier).
My understanding is official Catholic doctrine & dogma doesn't advance the "official" idea that RC are to pray to saints or Mary. (But that's only because it has heartburn w/that word "pray" being applied to any saint or Mary.)
Official RCatholic doctrine & dogma apparently sanctions folks asking heavenly saints and Mary to pray for them.
In light of some of the earlier posts on this thread from RC posters--including one who asked if there was really any difference between praying to a saint and asking/petitioning a saint--can you tell me what the difference is to the grassroots RC person when their church supposedly tells them it's okay to ask a heavenly saint to pass on their prayer request...just don't call it "prayer."
(If I'm off-base in representing the "official" RC doctrine & dogma above, please correct me w/proper sources).
Yes, you're off base. The Communion of Saints includes all of us together, including the Church Triumphant and Church Militant. We are a single body, we pray for each, we ask each other to pray for us. The Communion of Saints is who we are with Christ as our head. We still say the Apostles Creed.
I don't know what your 'grassroots' thing is. I'm not sure if you mean it as a derrogatory term or not. The Church is clear on its teaching. There are good teachers and poor ones, good students and poor ones.
The teaching and doctrine remains the same. We believe in the Communion of Saints. And have for well over a millenium and a half.
Paragraph 5. The Communion of Saints
946 After confessing "the holy catholic Church," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" The communion of saints is the Church.947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others.... We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head.... Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments." "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund."