Luke 16

29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Luke 24

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

John 1

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Unscriptural belief in prayers concerning the dead are derived specifically from 2 Machabees 12:42-46.

12:41

Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.

12:42

And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.

12:43

And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.

12:44

(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

12:45

And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

12:46

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

There are no instances in the Bible where praying to, through or for dead people is acceptable.

The catholic church has included the Apocrypha in its "bible" to give support to its unscriptural religion. These additions(Rev 22:18) to scripture also open the way for worship of the "Queen of Heaven"(Jer 7:18) as she is referred to in the Marian Prayers. The Bible refutes such claims.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"(1 Tim 2:5) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."(Acts 4:12) The Bible makes it clear that there is only one person to pray through and that person is God's only begotten Son.

No "Patron Saints". No "Mediatrix". No "Corredemptrix". No "Mother of God". No "Perpetual Virgin".

Before I got saved I was a catholic. When I got married, the catholic priest asked us (my wife to be and me) to go to an idol(Exo 20:4) and pray for help with our life together as husband and wife. My future wife was to pray to Mary in front of a statue of her while I was to do likewise in front of a statue of Joseph.

If you're still a catholic you might say, "We pray with saints, not to them." When asking the dead to pray with you, you are trying to converse with the dead. "[10] There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, [11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. [12] For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deut 18)

Mary, The Star Of 2000
"Mary most holy, the highly favored daughter of the Father will appear before the eyes of believers [in "1999, the third and final year of preparation"] as the perfect model of love toward both God and neighbor... so that they will return to the house of the Father....The mother of fairest love, will be for Christians on the way to the Great Jubilee of the third millennium the star which safely guides their steps to the Lord" (Pope John Paul II, As The Third Millennium Draws Near).
Watch out! The pope is connected with new-age-ism and wants everyone to turn to Mary. You need to turn to Jesus and ask him to save you! (Rom 10:13)

In conclusion, you may want to ask yourself who would want to take the focus off of the only way to salvation. Who would want you to turn to idols and dead people instead of the Lord Jesus Christ? Acts 4:12 states it plain and simple that Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."