DOCTRINE OF INTERCESSION BY SAINTS

And here is something from the first source about praying to the saint, or dead people.

"If anyone says that it is a deception to celebrate masses in honor of the saints and in order to obtain their intercession with God, as the Church intends, let him be cursed"  Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent

THE FIRST POPE

The first Pope to receive the title " Pontifex Maximus" was the 37th one, who was Damasus I in 378 AD.  2 years after that title was refused for the first time by the Roman Emperor Gratian.  That title had been passed down through all emperors from the time of Julius Caesar, who took it over from the Babylonian priests' descendants in 63 BC.  This made him head priest of the pagan Babylonian Religion while remaining head of the Christian Church in Rome.

WHO IS LORD OF THE CHURCH? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12954-2001Oct18.html.)
In 1376 John Wycliffe, a lecturer at Oxford University, wrote a controversial work entitled ’Of Civil Dominion’. In it he audaciously asserted that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and not the Pope. Wycliffe’s views were condemned and he was sent into exile. But Wycliffe continued propagating his ideas through a group called the Lollards, who proclaimed this view even to the point of death. It is a point worth dying for: that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and no-one else. Not the elders, not the deacons, not the Prime Minister and not the WCC. The reason it is important is because headship of the Church determines who we obey.
Are we to obey Christ or are we to obey men claiming to hold the office of Christ? We hold unswervingly to the headship of Christ for 2 reasons: 1. its his body; 2. he created it.

DOCTRINE OF COMMUION

"If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really, and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as a sign, or figure or force, let him be cursed."  Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent

DOCTRINE OF MARY

"This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consect which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross.  This maternity will last without interruption until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect.  For, taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of intercession continues to win for us gifts of eternal salvation.  Let the entire body of the faithful pour forth persevering prayer to the Mother of God and the Mother of Man."  Documents of the Vatican

CATECHISM ON MARY

Catechism of the Catholic Church", printed 1994. This is the "official" teaching of the Catholic Church, with the introduction from John Paul himself.

  The catechism is numbered by individual teaching. Some examples follow:

#493 "By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long" 

#721 "Mary the all holy ever-virgin Mother of God..."

#722 ... "She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin...."

#966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her son, the lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death."

MIRACLE ATTIBUTED TO MOTHER TERESA AP Vatican City Dec. 02

 The miracle attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession involves the recovery of a young Indian woman, Monica Besra, who had a stomach tumor. Her recovery, after an image of Mother Teresa was placed on her stomach, was judged to be without any medical explanation by a panel of doctors consulted by the Vatican.
       

THE HEAD OF LUKE

In 1998, the coffin seals were broken for the first time in 400 years. There was a skeleton, but no skull! The researchers found a tooth in the floor of the coffin, and did the DNA test on that. It was dated at about the time Luke would have been alive. But what about the head?
Research shows the body's head was removed in 1354 and taken to Prague, where it now rests in the Cathedral of St. Vitus. (St. Vitus, by the way, is also the name of an illness that causes it's sufferers to rhythmically jerk around. It is called St. Vitus' Dance, but this is nothing to worry Luke's head about.) But wait, there is another Luke's head in Rome! For a time, there was some controversy over which head was genuine. The one in Prague matches up with the skeleton in the lead coffin, so it is assumed to be genuine. But is it Luke or isn't it? Just because the body and head match doesn't mean they belonged to Luke, the beloved physician and the companion of the Apostle Paul. The jury is still out.

VIRGIN IN THE BATHROOMUncle John's Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader p. 142

a Nigerian housewife has reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the window of her bathroom in the city of Lagos. "I walked into the bathroom at about 5 a.m. and was shocked and overwhelmed by fear with the visible appearance of the "Virgin Mary," Christiana Ejambi told reporters. Since then the Blessed Virgin has reappeared several times and has given Ejambi messages on a number of subjects, including religious faith and how to control the crowds that have gathered to witness the miracle. Per the instructions of the Virgin Mary, only 3 people are allowed into the restroom at a time; everyone else has to wait.

BAPTIZED A CATHOLIC
A Baptist man lived in a traditional Catholic neighborhood. Every Friday, the Catholics were driven crazy because, while they were morosely eating fish, the Baptist was outside barbecuing steaks. The Catholics worked on the Baptist, attempting to convert him to Catholicism.

Finally, after much pleading and some threats, the Catholics succeeded. They took the Baptist to a priest who sprinkled Holy Water on the man while saying, "Born a Baptist, Raised a Baptist, Now a Catholic!"
The Catholics were ecstatic but this was short-lived for, the next Friday evening, the scent of barbecue once again drifted through the neighborhood.  The Catholics all rushed to the ex-Baptist's house to remind him of his new diet. They found him standing over the cooking steaks, sprinkling water on the meat and saying, "Born a cow, Raised a cow, Now a fish!"

THE VENERATION OF MARY Christianity Through The Ages Earle E. Cairns, Zondervan Pub.1981 p. 160

The veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, developed rapidly by 590 and led the adoption of the doctrines of her immaculate conception in 1854 and her miraculous assumption to heaven in 1950. The false interpretation of Scripture and the mass of miracles associated with Mary in the apocryphal gospels created great reverence for her. The Nestorian and other christological controversies of the 4 th century resulted in the acceptance of her as the "Mother of God" and entitled her to special honors in the liturgy.

In the first place, the mass is a denial of the one finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ. At the basis of this whole Romish conception of the Lord's Supper and the mass lies their error of transubstantiation. That false doctrine leads to these other errors. According to their conception, at the word of the priest in consecrating the elements, those signs of bread and wine are changed into the physical body and blood of Christ. Therefore Christ is there, again physically, to be offered as a sacrifice for sins. And that sacrifice is essential unto salvation. So essential is it, that Rome has priests. That is why Rome speaks not of the communion table, as do we when we speak of this table, even of the table of the covenant, as I referred to it in connection with Lord's Day 28; but Rome speaks of the altar. Rome calls its people to the altar. And through the church, that is, through the priest, Christ is offered even continually as a sacrifice for the sins of the people. That is necessary, according to Rome.

Now, don't be deceived by them. If you were to ask a member of the Romish clergy, "Do you believe that Christ alone saves His people," he will say, "Sure; of course." If you were to ask him, "Do you believe that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is sufficient for the atonement of sins," he will answer, "We most certainly do." That is why you have to listen to the complete explanation which they give. They say and teach emphatically, even in their official confessions, that unless the sacrifice of Christ is repeatedly offered in the mass, the atonement of Christ cannot be applied to the sinner. And therefore for you, for the people of God, even for the dead, to receive the forgiveness of sins, it is necessary that the priest repeatedly offer Christ in an unbloody sacrifice in the mass. There only do you have the application of the forgiveness of sins. The mass is said for the living and for the dead, for those who come to the altar to receive the host, and for those that are in purgatory. That is the repeated sacrifice of Christ offered in Roman Catholicism.

In the second place, the mass is called by our Heidelberg Catechism "an accursed idolatry." That is strong language indeed. The Roman Catholic Church will most ardently deny this. Of course. And you can understand even how they can deny this. If you grant that in the words of consecration the elements are changed—not spiritually, but physically into the body and blood of Christ; if you grant that, then you have Christ, the physical Christ before you on the altar. Then of course you may worship him. That is why, until they have seen the error of transubstantiation, they cannot possibly see their idolatry. But idolatry is exactly what it is. For they worship not Christ, but the signs.

Two good Catholic boys passed an Episcopalian minister. At the sight of the reversed collar, one of them automatically said, "Hello, Father."
The other boy elbowed him in the ribs. "He's no father, you dummy," said the second youth, "He's married and got three kids!"