OK I get that part of it (and thank you for not calling me 'ignorant' like some other loving christians here) but as long as you are praying, why not pray right to God and not to someone else to 'pray for you'.
That leads to my original question- is praying to Mary somehow better than praying right to God?
"why not pray right to God and not to someone else to 'pray for you'"
Because I need all the help I can get. The prayers of a righteous man fly heavenward like an arrow, which means mine must sort of...I don't know, limp heavenward like a three-legged wombat, maybe?
The Bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful. That means that the prayers of people like me are less so. If a righteous man is willing to pray for me, then, why would I tell him not to?
How powerful must the prayers of the Blessed Mother of Jesus be? "Full of Grace," the angel called her. And if, in her love, Saint Mary is willing to pray for me...well, it seems to me that I'd really have to have a lot of gall to say, "Who needs her? I can talk to the Big Guy myself."
That is not to say that Catholics do not pray directly to God in His three persons. Even the Rosary, which is distinctly oriented toward Mary, contains the Lord's Prayer, the Gloria Patri (Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), the Fatima Prayer (Lord Jesus, forgive us our sins...), 5 times each. The Ave Maria itself is God-centered. "...the Lord is with thee...blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus...mother of God, pray for us..." And the Salve Regina is all about praying for Mary's help in becoming "worthy of the promises of Christ."
I like to wrap it up with the Anima Christi, which is entirely centered on Christ.
"That leads to my original question- is praying to Mary somehow better than praying right to God?"
It's not a question of "better than." It's not an "either-or" proposition. We have what Protestants have, plus we have all this other stuff, too.
To me, it seems that God is trying to give with both hands, and for some reason Protestants will only accept a fraction of what He offers.
No. But getting Mary, or St Aloysius Gonzago, or Frank at the store to pray for you as well means that more persons are involved. Getting more than one person involved in each prayer is better (when two or three are gathered ... ), and also tends to act as a check on bizarre or selfish prayer. Christianity is corporate: it is The Church, not a billion micro-churches. We are saved or damned on our own responsibility, but we come to God as the Body of Christ, and best prayer practices reflect this. Heaven is not a lonely place.
Hope this is helpful. I haven't thought about this for years