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Sorry to be so long in getting back, I had to let the kids tend to some schoolwork on the computer. I'll do my best to answer your questions, but I'm sure others can also add in what they know if they'd like. Since I'm not a theologian or anything like that, let's just say you are getting MY opinion based on what I've learned about my Catholic faith. I try to stay with what I've been taught, but like any other thing, I know my knowledge isn't perfect. Always learning more, but I like it that way.

I understand the Bible as God's written Word, that it is mainly about the history of salvation for man. All that we really need to know for our salvation is in there. That's why the details of Mary are not in there, because they aren't essential.

Catholics have the Holy Tradition as handed down to us through the years. The way I understand it is that before the Bible was compiled into the form that it is now distributed, it was handed down by word of mouth from the apostles. We call it the apostolic tradition. So the oral traditions have always been an important part of the faith.

You know that not every minute or even year of Jesus' life is documented in the New Testament, nor could it be. There are materials that were circulated widely as the apostles moved on and preached the Good News. Over the years, the works have been collected, and some have been lost. This is probably all stuff you already know, but just in case, I wanted to include it. This is the main reason why Catholics do not rely on only the Bible for our faith. We have the gift of this oral tradition that fills in some of those gaps.

So we have stories that we've heard about all these people who were close to Jesus in His lifetime on earth. Most of them we call saints. We believe that they are especially blessed by God. Some of the stories include things like "the way of the Cross", in which we are taught after Jesus' death, Mary went through the different "stations " that Jesus did during His Passion. We celebrate these mainly on Fridays during Lent (because Jesus died on Good Friday). It is a way to remember what Christ endured for us on a regular basis. The thing is that traditionally it is done as a group during Lent, like I said. However, it can be performed any day of the week, any time of the year.

In like manner, we learn a lot about Mary from the oral tradition. We learn that she was a most prayerful woman and that she was very close to God. You could say that He was the whole focus of her life, everything she did, she did to please Him. We are taught that because Mary was the mother of Jesus, and that because He honors His mother (as in the commandments), that it is perfectly appropriate to turn to her when asking for help with any concern, in the same way that you would talk with a friend about your concerns. You see, fear of the Lord is one of the earliest things we are taught about God. So, although we know Jesus was loving and forgiving, God the Father is also perceived as mighty and powerful, sometimes even angry. You can see where we get that from the Old Testament, can't you? It's like God is someone who you cannot dare approach. And since Jesus is God, too, well, I think it sort of spills over to Him, too. That's why Mary is seen as this comforting mother who wants to take care of her children. Although she is holy, we feel that she is approachable, all the time. So we have these traditions where praying to Mary is seen as very helpful. It's not essential for our salvation. Not at all. I think sometimes Catholics have this extreme guilt factor driven into them, and so approaching Jesus in prayer, well, we still do, but it's always nice to know that Mary's there, too.

As to the other part of your questions, I have taken seven years of intense Bible study (BSF if you've ever heard of that). I read many books about my faith, including writings from the various saints (Augustine, Teresa of Avila, are a couple), and books on church history, the Shroud of Turin, etc. There's so many resources, you never get bored! Through my different types of study, some scriptural, others historical, I have to tell you that I have not found contradictions between scripture and Catholic tradition. I've found that the scriptures enhance and expound what I've been taught. When I think I find a contradiction, I pray about it. I ask God for His Wisdom in understanding it. Usually, before much time has passed, He allows me to understand the Scriptures. I guess I keep studying until it makes sense. Well, to be honest, it doesn't always make perfect sense, but that's when I hand it back to God. I figure that if I understood it all, I would be God, and I'm not, and so there are some things I just have to leave in His hands.

Sorry, this is more long-winded than I intended, but I guess I didn't know how to put all that you learn growing up into just a few paragraphs. You could literally write pages about this stuff if you were so inclined.