Do you (catholics) pray to Mary? If so, does that mean she's somewhat omniscient? Being human, who does she hear first and in what order? Should Paul have said 'for almost all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God'? And finally, what's the point of praying to Mary or any other saint if God has given us direct access to Himself?
Omni=all
scient=knowing
I don’t think Mary is omniscient. But I think people in heaven know a great deal more than we do.
We hold that the communion of the redeemed is a “communion in the Spirit” and it is in the Spirit that the saints hear our prayers.
As to in what order or who’s on first, we hold that ‘time’ is different for those in heaven. In some way they share in God’s eternal now.
It’s not clear that Paul was speaking with logically precise diction. When Luke says, “And all Jerusalem with him,” does he mean the babies, the newly weds, those on the brink of death?
We are told to pray for others. We ask others for prayer. Clearly God knows what we want, for ourselves and for others. And yet we are told to pray persistently. Who can understand this? Not me. But the prayers of the righteous avail much. And the saints have been made righteous by God’s grace.
When our daughter was sick unto death (she lived) people offered prayers and we asked for prayers. IF you think, as we do, that the redeemed who have died now live with God, then it makes sense to ask for their prayers in the same way we ask for the prayers of one another — as people do here on Free Republic.