But that is NOT the language Catholics use in ‘praying’ to Mary, and the language used is how Protestants pray to God Himself. So that is how it differs.
And since I’ve read Vatican documents discussing sects that have gone to far in Marian devotion, the concern isn’t totally without justification, even per the Catholic Church.
Look. We acknowledge that it's HYPER-dulia. It's not going to be exactly the same as the way I approach a friend to ask for prayer.
And since I perceive that through Mary's intercession Jesus has given great blessings to me, I am going to indulge in words of gratitude and affection toward her as well as toward Jesus.
It's not going to be an exact equivalence; it's going to be more proportional. "So and so the next county over is a powerful intercessor. Hoowee!" That sort of calibrates the scale. Once it's calibrated "Our life, our sweetness, and our hope, is seen to be, well, proportional. She is some KIND of intercessor! "Hoowee" just doesn't do it.
As for the over-the-top folks. Well there are people whose parents were lutherans and then they just gave up on the whole church thing altogether.
"Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds," and the greater the truth, the more devastating its perversion ...
I feel like I'm playing king of the hill here. Would you guys take turns or something?
But I thought “It’s good to be King!”
And you can take it...think of it as a compliment!
However, notice this: “And since I perceive that through Mary’s intercession Jesus has given great blessings to me, I am going to indulge in words of gratitude and affection toward her as well as toward Jesus.”
There you have another difference. When others join me in prayer at a prayer service, and God grants what we prayed for, we...praise God. None of us turns to the other and says, “Since it was through your intercession that Jesus has given great blessings to me, Let me indulge in words of gratitude and affection toward you as well as toward Jesus”.
At Baptist prayer meetings, we thank God - not each other.
Thanking Mary suggests it was her effectiveness in convincing God to do something that resulted in a favorable response, rather than God’s love and mercy and justice.
I have never and will never go to my Pastor and say, “George, I know you were praying for me, and I want to thank you - without your intercession on my behalf, who knows what would have happened?”