On the subject of images, you are putting your interpretation of the Old Testament above that of the mind of the Church. That images are worthy of veneration was not decided by the ‘Vatican’, but rather by the entire Church in an ecumenical council after many years of fighting over the issue, mainly in the East.
The Second Council of Constantinople says this “We decree with full precision and care that, like the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, the revered and holy images, whether painted or made of mosaic or of other suitable material, are to be exposed in the holy Churches of God, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways; these are the images of our Lord, God and saviour, Jesus Christ, and of our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer, and of the revered angels and of any of the saintly holy men…The honor paid to an image traverses it, reaching the model; and he who venerates the image, venerates the person represented in that image.”
On the subject of praying to Mary, if you don’t do it because you believe it is wrong to do so, then there is in fact a problem, because you are saying that what the Church teaches regarding this is wrong, and implicitly placing judgment on those who do so. Further, even if you simply choose not to, that remains somewhat of a problem, because you would not be able to fully participate in the Church’s liturgy. If you were to go to an Eastern rite Divine Liturgy, you would sing the following: “You are truly deserving of glory, O Theotokos, the ever-blessed and most pure mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare, more glorious than the seraphim, you who without corruption gave birth to God the Word, true Theotokos, we magnify you.” If you were to pray the Roman rite liturgy of the hours, night prayer is completed with an antiphon sung to the blessed Virgin. You have a problem not just with personal devotions, but with the prayer of the Church, in that case.
This is not true my friend!
