Like those idols of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln I've seen?
and get on your knees in front of the statues and pray to her...
To "pray to a saint" means asking that saint to pray for us; "pray," from the somewhat archaic usage meaning "to ask."
As far as the saints in heaven praying for us goes, it's right there in the Protestant version of the Bible.
Revelation 5:8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
I don’t believe in it, but I don’t consider it idolatry either.
**..which are the prayers of the saints.**
The KJV says: “..which are the prayers of saints.”
Both versions say ‘of’, not ‘to’.
The prayers are not to them, but are prayers by them.
The saints are those sanctified, born of the Holy Ghost.
Paul wrote to several of the churches he helped establish, addressing them: “to the saints at...”.
But along comes ‘tradition’ of the RCC, to make superheros of certain people.
Not unlike the craftsmen of Ephesus, who made a ruckus because Paul was teaching the people there to lay down their dumb idols, there is no doubt money to be made with statues, carvings, paintings, etc. of these select “saints”.
A few weeks ago, I delivered a semi load of little chain medalions, that had some ‘saints’ images on them, from a Chicago warehouse to a distribution center in Iowa. These items were stamped ‘made in China’ (cheap labor).