Please explain the basis for Catholics believing that the saints in heaven can hear our prayers

[ZMystiCat]

What biblical or other evidence is there to prove or disprove that the saints who have died on earth but are very alive in heaven can hear our prayers when we avail ourselves of them as our “heavenly prayer partners”? I would like to believe in this but fear the Bible is relatively quiet on the issue of whether the saints can see beyond the veil, so to speak.

Both Revelation 5:8 and Revelation 8:3-4 reference prayers of Christians being offered by saints and angels respectively.

However, this is one aspect of Church practice that probably became more prevalent with time. Someone in the first century wouldn’t pray to the “dead” St. Paul, since he was still walking among them. The same goes for Peter, John, Mary, and any other notable Christians from the first century. It also certainly wouldn’t have included the myriad of saints who have come since Biblical times. Really, this is the type of thing that would become more noticeable with time, not due to corruption but due to the very nature of what it is.