Does anyone know why they say bless you when someone sneezes?

Answer 1

From the site referenced below:

There are many theories regarding the origin of this custom.

One traditional explanation for the custom is that it began literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory I the Great (AD 540-604) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the bubonic plague in AD 590 (his successor succumbed to it). To combat the plague, Gregory ordered litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God's blessing. When someone sneezed (seen as the initial onset of the plague), they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not actually develop the disease. 

Nevertheless the phrase bless you or god bless you in Greek literature predates the ascension of Gregory.

"Bless you, my dear!" he said, and "bless you, bless you!" at the second and third sneeze. From Apuleius, The Golden ***, AD 150.

Aloha

Answer 2

There are several reasons:

People used to believe that your soul was thrown loose from your body when you sneeze, and saying bless you kept it from being stolen by the devil.

Some believe that your heart stops when you sneeze (it doesn't), and that bless you would ensure that it continued to beat.

A sneeze was sometimes believed to be good luck, and saying bless you was recognizing the sneeze's luckiness.

A sneeze expelled evil, and saying bless you kept it from re-entering your body.

I work at a doctor's office, and when someone sneezes in the waiting room, there is a whole chorus of "bless you!" from the patients who are waiting. Practically everyone does this! And to think it's based on a superstition.

Answer 3

Maybe, because the heart "stops" during the whole sneezing process! Many years ago, Catholics, probably saw it, as a way of helping their process to Heaven while in the process of sneezing they'd say "Bless You" like, out of fear they'd lose their loved one, from a sneeze! Who knows? Good question, tho!! Doctors probably know thee answer to that one.. Maybe, the next time you go see your doctor you can ask them.. Now you have me a bit curious..Ha! Ha! Smile!

Answer 4

Claim: The origin of saying "Bless you!" when someone sneezes stems from an ancient desire to safeguard the sneezer's soul or to commend the dying to the mercy of God.

Origins: It's expected Ah-choo! we'll say "Bless you!" (or "God bless!") when someone nearby sneezes, but does anyone really know why we do this? Are we trying to protect the sneezers from evil spirits? Are we fending off the Devil? Is this a remnant of an ancient recognition that sneezers aren't long for this world, thus we commend their souls to God even as we wash our hands of them? Are we congratulating them on their impending good luck? (As silly as this may sound now, sneezing was at one long-ago time seen as a fortuitous portent.)

Some questions, no matter how simple, don't have one knowable answer. Though a number of "explanations" exist for this custom, nothing points to any one of them being its origin.

Common among these explanations are:

* At one time people believed a man's soul could be inadvertently thrust from his body by an explosive sneeze, thus "Bless you!" was a protective oath uttered to safeguard the temporarily expelled and vulnerable soul from being snatched up by Satan (who was always lurking nearby). The purpose of the oath was to cast a temporary shield over the flung-out soul which would protect it just long enough to regain the protection of the corporeal body.

* Conversely, the sneeze itself was the expulsion of a demon or evil spirit which had taken up residence in a person. Therefore, although the "Bless you!" was again a protective charm meant to protect the sneezer from evil, in this version it was meant to ward off the re-entry of an evil spirit which a tormented soul had just rid itself of.

* The heart was believed to momentarily stop during a sneeze (it doesn't), thus the "Bless you!" was uttered either as a supplication for life to return or as a congratulation upon its successful restart.

* Others claim an association of the practice with particular dire diseases (most often the bubonic plague, or "Black Death," as it is sometimes known). They say an infected person's sneeze was sure sign he'd soon be pushing up daisies, thus the "Bless you!" was intended as a benediction to the nearly-departed, a way of commending his soul to the care of God now that he was beyond the help of anything in the mortal world.

* Yet other folks echo the theme of other superstitions about sneezes, that these expulsions are either in themselves lucky or foretell good fortune coming the sneezer's way. For them, the "Bless you!" is a recognition of incoming good luck, possibly even an attempt on the blesser's part to attract a bit of it to himself.

* Finally, some see the sneeze as a blessing bestowed by the sneezer upon the sneezed-upon. Answering a sneeze with "Bless you!" is seen as nothing more remarkable than replying "Good morning!" to the person who had just greeted you with the same phrase.

So many explanations -- each deeply believed -- for such a simple and often unquestioned practice. And we'll never know which one is right.

Answer 5

I was told that it originates from the believe that bad spirits would try to invade you at the moment you sneezed. By 'blessing' the sneezing person they tried to stop the bad spirit.

Answer 6

Origin. Ancient man believed that his breath was also his soul or "essence of life." When God made man, he "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." A rapid departure of that breath--a sneeze--is the same as expelling life from one's body. Also, it leaves a vacuum in the head which evil spirits can enter. Roman citizens feared sneezing when a plague hit their city during the reign of Pope Gregory the Great. Since they regarded the sneeze as a sure sign of approaching sickness, Pope Gregory in situated the use of the phrase "God bless you" to shield sneezers from any ill effects.

Answer 7

I think your heart stops for those few seconds when you sneeze and it all relates back to religon issues. Some Middle Eastern people believe it has something to do with evil spirits going into a body and therefore, we say "god bless you." Something along that lines. I've done research on it awhile back, but can't quite remember everything, sorry...Explained the best I could...

Answer 8

I am not sure but the story goes about a disease like the black plague in Europe, first you sneeze then you get a rash then you die, so they Blessed those who sneezed, because they would die soon. And the custom has just continued for hundreds of years

Answer 9

I remember reading somewhere that its because in the olden days people thought that your soul left you when you sneezed and saying bless you stopped that. Also, I read somewhere else that your heart stops while you sneeze, though I'm not exactly sure about this one - hope it helps! :p

Answer 10

I was taught that it goes back to the days of the black death. One of the symptoms was sneezing and people who started sneezing were as good as dead! Others saying "Bless you" was seen as small consolation to the sufferer.
An extra fact...The nursery rhyme "Ring-a-Roses" is all about the black death too. A posy of fresh flowers kept on the person (pocket full of posies) was considered to ward off the disease, the "ring of roses" relates to the rash which was red and ring shaped and the "atishoo we all fall down" was the certain death.