God bless you!

You’ve said it yourself - someone sneezes and you say, “God Bless You”, but do you know why?

There are several explanations for this saying which has become second-nature to so many.

Some say that during the sixth century it was a congratulatory statement as a sneeze was thought to expel evil spirits.

Some cultures believed that a sneeze was caused by demons leaving the body or that a sneeze left one vulnerable for demons to enter the body.

It is thought that “God Bless You” may have been a blessing to protect the sneezer from harm. Others suggest that the blessing began when the great plague took hold of Europe and people began sneezing violently.

Sneezing was a signal that the person was likely to die of plague and so others blessed the fated sneezer.