Why did Jesus tell us to pray to his mother Mary if we wanted our prayers to surely be answered?

He never did. I was raised in a “ catholic “ household and finished 9 years of obligatory catholic school, I learned every single prayer towards Mother Mary and The Saints and this is what I have realized. Most of the prayers aren’t actually sinful, I understand it, they’re praying to the righteous and those closer to God to pray for them and for intercession. But it doesn’t mean it’s biblical. Jesus never told us anything about intercession, He gave us The Lord’s Prayer , not the command of saying 50 Hail Mary’s every sermon. We must honor Mother Mary, always: “ Blessed are you, among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. “ But Jesus never told us to pray to her nor to the saints, only to Him, directly. Adding a bunch of extra steps to be able to get to Him is unbiblical and unnecessary. Praise God.