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


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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
because when you sneeze your heart stops for a second


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