Against my better judgement, I am weighing in on this one....
The Hail Mary is not a prayer TO Mary, it is a prayer FOR her intercession with God our Faither and her Son, Jesus. Because you are obviously unfamiliar with the Hail Mary, I will fill you in on the pertinent part...
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
If we really pray TO the Virgin Mary (or any of the Saints for that matter) we would ask HER to forgive our sins and we most certainly do not do so.
As others have pointed out, if you ask other people to pray for your intentions, then you are doing nothing different than Catholics do when we pray for the intercession of the Angels and Saints. Of course, if you don't believe in Heaven, then I guess you wouldn't get it, but then you wouldn't be a Christian then, would you.
Why don't you just agree to disagree with Catholics and leave it at that ? Thanks! GG
The difference is significant. You are communicating with someone who has died. That is the crux of the discussion.
Why don't you just agree to disagree with Catholics and leave it at that?
You certainly could follow your own advice, true?