Where does the custom of saying “God bless you” after a sneeze come from?
Many cultures believe that the person’s soul or vital essences were leaving them through their mouth at the time of the sneeze, so a companion would pray in order to restore their health. The same holds true in European tradition, and most likely roots from the time of the Plague. This tradition has carried on to the modern era from etiquette, as well, as when a person sneezes, it is usually a rather loud action, so by another person saying “Bless you”, the focus is taken off of them by saying that they realize their sneeze was involuntary and that they were not offended by it, and also that they wish them to be well.
Some well known superstitions that may have contributed to bringing bless you into common use are: The heart stops when you sneeze (it doesn’t), and the phrase bless you is meant to ensure the return of life or to encourage your heart to continue beating. A sneeze is the expulsion of some sort of evil, and the phrase is meant to ward off the evil’s re-entry. Your soul can be thrown from your body when you sneeze, and saying bless you prevents your soul from being stolen by Satan or some evil spirit. Thus, bless you or God bless you is used as a sort of shield against evil. A sneeze is good luck and saying “bless you” is no more than recognition of the sneezer’s luckiness. Found from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_you, which is a really great link on this topic.
Another story about the origin: The custom of saying “God bless you” after a sneeze was begun literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory I the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the plague in 590 AD (his successor succumbed to it). To combat the plague Gregory ordered litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God’s intercession. When someone sneezed, they were immediately blessed (“God bless you!”) in the hope that they would not subsequently develop the plague.
