Do YOU bow down before statues of Mary?
If by "bow down" you mean worship, then no. Catholics do not worship Mary or statues. If by "bow down" you mean showing reverence while praying, then yes, some Catholics do. The same physical act can have different meanings. What makes something worship is the intention of the heart, and Catholics reserve worship for God alone.
Do YOU ASK Mary to intercede for you… (Between you and God)?
Yes, Catholics ask Mary to intercede for them, but not as someone who stands between them and God in a way that blocks direct access to Him. Catholics pray directly to God every day and worship Him alone.
If by "between you and God" you mean "instead of going directly to God," then the answer is no. Catholics ask Mary to pray for them in the same way Christians ask friends, family members, pastors, or other believers to pray for them. In fact, Scripture encourages Christians to offer "supplications, prayers, intercessions" for one another (1 Timothy 2:1).
Catholics believe that those who die in Christ are alive with Him. Jesus said that God "is not God of the dead, but of the living" (Mark 12:26-27; Luke 20:38). Scripture also shows the faithful alive in God's presence after earthly death (e.g., Matthew 17:1-3; Revelation 6:9-10).
Mary's intercession depends entirely on Jesus Christ and leads people closer to Him, not away from Him. Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5), and asking Mary to pray for us does not replace His unique role any more than asking another Christian to pray for us would.
Heb 12:
[1] Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
I think the ones who are witnessing men on earth being saved are holy Angels, not departed Souls.
The question isn't whether our earthly bodies die. Christians agree that they do. The question is whether the righteous are alive with God after bodily death.
Hebrews 12:1 comes immediately after Hebrews 11, where the author lists Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and many other faithful people. When he says, "Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses," the most natural reading is that he's referring to those believers he just mentioned, not suddenly switching to angels.
Also, if the saints are completely unconscious after death, how do we explain Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3)? Or the souls under the altar crying out to God in heaven (Revelation 6:9-10)? Or Jesus saying that God "is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Luke 20:38)?
So while our bodies return to dust and await the resurrection, Scripture repeatedly depicts the faithful as alive in God's presence before the resurrection. That's the point being made. The issue is not whether the body dies, but whether the person continues to live in Christ after death.
Jesus IS A Spirit….with a Body….and Soul.
Living Humans Are a Body…with a spirit and soul.
Angels ARE spirits.
Numerous SPIRITS have appeared to Living Humans, in the Likeness AS a man since ancient History…to this day.
When A Spirit appears to a Human (in the likeness AS a man)… they appear as Person!
Before His incarnation, God the Word existed eternally with God the Father (John 1:1-2) and was not flesh and blood. But when '"the Word became flesh" (John 1:14), He did not merely appear as a man or temporarily wear a body. He became truly human.
After His resurrection, Jesus did not say, "I am a spirit appearing as a man." Instead, He said, "A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). He invited His disciples to touch Him and even ate food before them (Luke 24:42-43).
Angels may appear in human form, but Jesus distinguished Himself from a spirit by pointing to His resurrected body. Therefore, while the eternal Word existed before His incarnation, the risen Christ is not merely a spirit appearing in the likeness of a man. He is the incarnate Word with a real, glorified human body, possessing flesh and bones exactly as He said.