[Dmitry Vukicevich]

Catholics do not regard Mary as a Deity, and still less do they regards statues of her as Deities.

Then why pray to her? She cannot hear you she has died and knows the corruption of the grave.

[Petronski]

She’s not dead.

[agere_contra]

Prayer is not worship. To pray is to ask, perhaps to beg or plead. It is not 'to worship', nor is it even 'to venerate'

Example sentence: "I pray thee, learn the difference between the two".

Moving on to your second bit about praying to the dead: as Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth.

This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering prayers to God under the form of "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

If the saints are with God, and are offering prayers to God, then they are active participants in the economy of grace. They can be aware of our petitions and they can present them to God - in other words they can intercede for us.

Asking people on Earth to pray for you in no way violates Christ’s mediatorship - still less does asking the Saints or his Blessed Mother for help.

I sincerely hope this is helpful.