But, my question is........... where in Scripture, does it direct us to pray to anyone other than our Lord? (Especially for absolution of our sins - such as being reqired to say the "Hail Mary" and the "Lord's Prayer" a number of times - to be forgiven for our sins.)
I'm not being combative in any way - I am seriously curious.
There are a number of misconceptions non Catholics, and sadly too many Catholics have about this. I will try to break it down in several points.
First, Catholics do not believe that Scripture represents 100% of the Revealed Word of God. We look to the same Apostolic Traditions that served the Church before and during the process of Canon that established the Bible for guidance. Much of Mariology comes from this Tradition.
The prayers of intercession are simply our request of others to pray to the one mediator, Jesus Christ, for us and our Salvation. This is not unlike asking your friends, family, neighbors and church members to pray for you.
Third, prayers by themselves do not absolve anything. If done right they help to focus the mind and evoke a pure communication with God.