Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Why “our Father” or the Mass, in Latin, and not in other languages you asked? Think about it. Latin is the universal mother tongue of the church, has been for a long time. The Latin Mass is understood anywhere in the world, also that is a unifying force for us Catholics. That’s a good enough trump, over other languages.
Surely you attended weddings and funerals where the well-known Ave Maria was sung and, you understood pretty well everything in it as you do in English. Don’t let others dumb down on you.
On a side note, even for a new convert to learn Latin for worship is a good thing. We, as educated people these days learn new languages all the time, tho not necessary for worship, or in “spoken language” in the strictest sense. Look at all the computer students in universities and colleges. You realize how many new languages (sometimes in complicated codes) they learn and use everyday? Don’t tell me they couldn’t handle Latin if they wanted to.
Now the more troubling issue of your wanting to cite Scriptures to justify praying for the dead. They are there but I don’t have it off hand, Macabees is one of them. Frankly, this is a Protestant train of thought, very scary. The Scriptures came out of the Church, the Church didn’t come of Scriptures, only churches (denominations) are made up from defective Protestant scriptures. Sorry I had to be blunt. Too bad, the Protestants constantly wanting to re-invent the wheel. We Catholics have it made, we have all the Truth necessary for salvation handed down to us thru the centuries.
Praying for the dead is also a derivative of the teaching of Communion of Saints, a teaching that is to be held be all believing catholics. The CCC has a few reference on it as well.
We’re going in circles here. You promote Latin for mutual understanding, and I observe that for most practical purposes people don’t understand precisely because it is in Latin. Regurgitating a stream of phonetics does not make for comprehension thereof.
Ave Maria? Haven’t a clue what it says. It’s in Latin.
I am very familiar with computer languages. I know so many that learning another one takes about a half-hour and a reference manual. Natural languages? Very different: much as I’ve tried I just can’t pick up any more. ...but again, the issue isn’t learning another language, it’s why that one in particular, and why any at all (re: mass)?
I’ll await your answer re: verses supporting praying for the dead. Bashing Protestantism is not a valid response.