Do you know if everyone was unanimous in thinking this was an acceptable practice, or were there voices of dissent, and are there any in authority amongst the Catholic hierarchy now that express misgivings?
Absolutely everyone was unanimous! There were no voices of dissent from the Early Church Fathers.
The evidence is in the fact that prayesr to Mary and the Saints were practiced everywhere in christendom in the early Church .. we see these prayers inscribed on the walls of the catcombs where Christians buried there dead.
We have the Sub Tuum prayer from the early Church directed towards Mary "We Fly to your Patronage Holy Mother of God"
Sub tuum praesidium
The earliest text of this hymn was found in a
Coptic Orthodox Christmas liturgy of the third century. It is written in
Greek and dates to approximately 250.
[1] It is used in the Coptic liturgy to this day, as well as in the
Byzantine,
Ambrosian, and
Roman liturgies. It is especially sung by young Christian men and women who are being educated by the
Marist Brothers.
This is the earliest known copy. It was used everywhere in the Church spread out over many counties. . this in an era where it took time for something to spread and receive such universal acceptance, which means it was in use FAR EARLIER than the date of this known copy.
This is a prayer was not simply something that was floating around on the fringes of Chrsitianity, it was used in the
LITURGY of the Church which gives it VERY HIGH universal importance in the Church.
If such prayers were not part of the faith the Apostles handed down to the Church, then we would have seen such pratice squashed immediately by the Early Church Fathers who were quick to denounce and expose heresy, and never ever make it into wide spread use, and especially not into the Liturgy!
The fact of its universal use and acceptance and practice in the Church WITHOUT even the TINIEST HINT of criticism or concern from the Early Church Fathers should settle the matter simply and easily.
