Praying: To Mary or to Christ?

Consider for a moment these scenes. The first is in a Roman Catholic Cathedral where a junior high teacher leads a handful of his students on a tour. The students speak in awed whispers of the beautiful stained-glass windows and of the statues, pictures, and ornate fixtures that fill the church. Suddenly the group is drawn up short and all fall silent. They have come upon a statue (idol) of Mary. But that is not what started them. Rather it is the sight of a gray-haired, devout woman, on her...