If I pray to those who are saints, are they not alive with God? The place we desire to be, to see the face of God and live!!
She cannot atone for sins, never said that. She is the mother of Jesus, and that was his mission and she gave her consent to participate in this Divine misssion to save souls. If she had not gave her consent, would God have forced her to comply? No. God will not force only knock at the door to your heart, my heart to consent to serve him. Only a slave is forced, God only wants us to choose him out of love because it is from our own free will to accept or reject him, sadly if our choice is to reject him, he will honor his gift to us of free will and give us our reward for our choice. And scripture tells us, the Holy Spirit who inspired scripture, to call her blessed. That is only from God himself not me, not the Catholic Church.
Apparently, you are fairly new here and have not encountered some who use the Whole Bible rather than pick and choose and assemble stuff together to teach something other than what God's Word actually says. There is nowhere we are told to pray to dead people. Mary, the mother of Jesus died. Consider....
2 Timothy 2:1-6"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and
one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time."
