Marian idolatry (or "Marian Worship", as Pope John Paul called it at the Vatican Information Service on May 7, 1997) is rampant in the Roman Catholic religion. It's clearly visible, and cannot be reasonably denied. Nevertheless, Catholics, being subconsciously aware of the sin of idolatry, will usually attempt to deny it.
There are a range of ways they attempt this. Using a well-chosen array of words and phrases, they attempt to make their views seem more Biblical than they actually are. To do this, they either twist the explicit teachings of Scripture to elevate Mary (e.g. by pointing out that it calls her "blessed among women"), or even temporarily compromise the nature of the Catholic Mary.
I recently came across an example of the latter. In a short, 30 second clip, a Catholic attempts to defend Mary's role as Mediatrix with a little chart. The chart can be seen in the header image. As shown to the left, there was also a previous version, which he erased and redrew to make his point.
In full, his argument is: "There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So the flow goes like this. Man, Jesus, God, right? There's only one mediator between God and man, but man includes the saints. You get it? So if I ask you to pray for me and then you ask Mary to pray for you, and then she goes to Jesus, that's still only one mediator between God and man. You can call it inefficient, but you can't call it unbiblical."
There are two ways in which I beg to differ with that last statement, and one other important criticism.
The important criticism is that, as plausible as this argument may sound, it's actually not the Roman Catholic position. Yes, they do believe Mary can intercede in a similar way as we, who are living, may do so for a friend. However, the two are not directly equivalent. Let's look at what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say on this issue:
""This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."" (CCC 969, emphasis added).
So, when Mary is invoked as Mediatrix, she isn't merely praying for you as a friend might. Rather, she holds saving office, and by her intercession, continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. Now, about how many people can this be said in Catholic theology? If you ask me to pray for you, do I hold saving office? Do I continue to bring you the gifts of eternal salvation? Is there any point in which someone on Earth praying for you is equivalent to the Catholic view of what goes on with Mary's intercession? The answer is an obvious no.
In other words, what this Catholic has done is brought the Catholic Mary more in line with the Biblical Mary. Stripping her of her "almost" divine attributes in Scripture, the Catholic has turned Mary into the human being that she actually is (not that Catholics believe she is anything other than human). Not being so powerful that Christ cannot say no to her, as Pope Benedict XVI once claimed (1). Not being able to deliver our souls from death (2). Not being so divine that the 10 commandments forbid us from misusing her name (3). No, the Mary this Catholic claims to promote is exactly like you or I.
Or is she? Of course, I don't want to read too much into his diagram. I'd rather go by what he says than by what his diagram seems to represent. But notice how Mary is drawn higher than him and "me" (or you). Is that because she's in Heaven, and thus has "more direct access" to God, as some Catholics claim? I don't know, I can't ask him. And truthfully, I don't know what the more charitable thing to do is here. If my assumption about the diagram is correct, this is closer to the Catholic Mary than the mere words of the argument. Thus, it is charitable to make the assumption that the Catholic believes the Catholic Mary. But if I'm wrong in my assumption, I just end up creating a massive straw man. So we'll just leave this as a side note.
But what we cannot leave as a side note is that if the Catholic wants to make asking Mary for prayer equivalent to asking another Christian for prayer, it must be equivalent, which of course it cannot be, not only due to the actual depiction of Mary in the Roman Catholic sources, but also because of the effect. See, when you ask me for prayer, I'm not a mediator between you and God.
See, ultimately, this all comes down to 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus". But what does the whole passage say? From verses 1-7, we read "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For 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 between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth."
So we see that, just as the Catechism of the Catholic Church applies Mary the title of "Mediatrix" because of her alleged saving office, so also does Scripture say that there is only one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who holds this saving office. Why? Because He gave Himself a ransom for all. So in what way does Mary claim that title? "Because she consented". Like she had a choice? Like she could summon a legion of angels to prevent Christ being delivered unto death? Thus, the first way I can call this argument inefficient and unBiblical is that it simply ascribes the title of a saving office to more people than it belongs.
But there is a second layer than makes this whole argument unBiblical. See, if we could grant that all believers are mediators, we are still forbidden, by Scripture, from the abomination of necromancy. Necromancy, i.e. communication with the dead, especially for intercession, is considered such an abomination that those who commit this particular sin are said to be in darkness. As Isaiah writes, "And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:19-20).
The law and testimony, to which Isaiah refers, is of course the Scriptures. The law of Moses, which not only forbids communication with the dead, but even tells us that communication with the dead is a sin for which the prior inhabitants were cast out of the land of Israel. It is an abomination, therefore, to even seek the intercession of Mary in as innocent a manner as one might seek the intercession of a friend, because she has been dead for 2000 years!
But not so, say the Catholics. She's alive in Heaven! Well, tell that to Saul, who sought the intercession of Samuel. Is Samuel alive in Heaven? For sure. But Saul, breaking the law in order to contact him, did not receive any intercession from him. Samuel's response was clear: "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" (1 Samuel 28:15). "So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." (v 16-19).
Samuel's response, then, is effectively "there's nothing I can do, even if I wanted to". Now of course, Samuel was a faithful servant of the Lord even before he died (which 1 Samuel 25:1 and 28:3 tell us he absolutely did), so there's no way, having died and been fully conformed to the Lord's will, he would ever have wanted anything for Saul that God wouldn't. But suppose Samuel took pity on Saul. Suppose, in his spiritual state, he still retained a shred of his worldly desires. "Ok Saul, God has rejected you, but I'll see if I can change His mind". How would that go down? It's quite clear that it wouldn't.
With that in mind, what do we suppose Mary would do if, on the off chance, a Catholic actually managed to get through to her? If a Catholic could communicate with Mary, I have no doubt her first words would be "why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?", and anything following that would be, much like Samuel, to point them back to the God whom they should be seeking. She cannot do anything for a man that the man himself cannot do. It's not like if you ask Jesus, He'll remain stubborn against you, yet if you ask Mary, she'll ask Him on your behalf, and suddenly He'll be amicable to your requests. That's just not how things work.
Now of course, the good news is, God isn't as stiff towards us as He was towards Saul. No matter his pleadings, no matter his desire for Samuel's intercession, Saul could not save his kingdom, or even his very life. He died, and even his very salvation is questionable. But the Bible tells us that prayer is effective regardless of who does it. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16). You cannot get more direct than that! Mary and the Saints may well be physically in God's presence, but it's not like He's a phone call away from us. He's here, with us! As Christ bowed His Holy head on that cross, He ripped that temple veil in half, and now we are the temples. He lives in us!
So how much more effective do you think our prayers are when we go to Him ourselves? Or let's put it another way: Who do you think He is more likely to answer? The penitent, who boldly approach the throne of grace for mercy and grace in a time of need, or the wicked, who commit the abomination of necromancy in His very name? My Catholic friends, you are cheating yourselves. You are sinning against your Savior, a crime for which I promise He will not reward you. And as all sin, it may even hinder your prayers. Furthermore, a time might come when you hear those dreaded words: "I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice iniquity". And Mary will not be able to fix that. And so at best you are cheating yourselves, at worst you are damning yourselves.
A time may come when you meet Mary for real. She will not know you yet. She has never once interceded for you. She has never heard your prayers to her. She would vomit if she could see the idol you have crafted and applied her name to. But in the end, she isn't who you need to please. It is the Lamb's book of life in which you want to find your name. Therefore, repent of your idolatry, not for her sake, but for Christ's.
References
1. F. K. Bartels - Pope Benedict XVI: Jesus Cannot Refuse His Mother, Catholic.org, 10/16/2011 (link)
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church 966 (link)
3. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2146 (link)