There appears to be an answer to the ‘problem’ of sola scriptura in another of Triablogue’s posts, which lays into the guys at ‘Called to Communion’. Here’s the link:

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2009/11/called-to-mutual-naval-gazing.html

and this is what seems to relate to the perceived difficulty with sola scriptura:

‘…they convert to Catholicism because sola scriptura doesn’t afford them the degree of guidance they say they need. There’s no substitute of a divine teaching office, ya know.’

This ‘divine teaching office’ (not the bloggers, but the Church) not only interprets but advocates all the obligatory ‘bolt-ons’ for Catholics.

My generation (1970s) wasn’t exactly encouraged in Marian devotions, so my outlook on Mary was rather Protestant once I reached my teens. It would seem that JPII changed that in the 1980s (he even added another ‘mystery’, or set of meditations to accompany the recitation of the Rosary).

However, by JPII’s time, I had already become an Anglican (Episcopalian), so that passed me by. Today, I am amazed to read in Catholic blogs things I was never brought up with, e.g. ‘Mary is the Ark of the Covenant’.

I can say that it was common practice in my youth for adults to say, ‘Pray to Our Lady or to St [fill in name here] for help’. Nowadays, they are careful to say publicly, ‘We ask them to intercede’, but a middle-aged cradle Catholic would have to consciously make that distinction. People say one thing. They often think another out of habit.