Why do we bless people when they sneeze?

Answer:
It all started with the plague in London. One of the first signs of the desease was a cold and sneezing. When children started to show the effects their parents used to get them 'blessed' by their priests, vicars etc in the hope that the desease would not take them away in death. Which is why everyone says bless you when a person sneezes. Hope this helps.

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because we used to think that a sneeze was your soul trying to escape..i think

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I don't know..and the sad thing is I've even started 'catching the fairy' when someone says bless you.
How sad am I at 36 years old lol.

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During the bubonic plague sneezing was one of the earliest symptoms.

It became common place to bless them in the hope that is was just a common cold and not the plague they had.

Weird the stuff we got stuck in our minds hey.

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it started around the time of the palgue i think

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It came about during 'Plague' times in England. Our ancestors were convinced that it was caused by 'devils' and sneezing was one of the first symptoms of 'Black Death'. People used to say 'Bless You' to try to ward off the Devil...

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I thought it was something to do with the Black Death which killed half of Europe in the 16th Century. People thought blessing the sneezer would ward away the disease.

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early symptom of the plague..
to warn off the devil, and nowadays to give hope of god sparing them from getting ill.

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It goes back to bubonic plague or black death, one of the first symptoms of which is sneezing. ( Ring-a ring-a-roses etc.) This was a blessing or prayer that the person sneezing did not have the plague.

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Origins
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.


[edit] Superstition
Other explanations are based on superstitions and urban legends about sneezing and what a sneeze entails. Some well known superstitions that may have contributed to bringing "bless you" into common use are:

The belief that the heart stops when you sneeze, and the phrase "bless you" is meant to ensure the return of life or to encourage your heart to continue beating. (Of course, the heart beats because of electrical pulses that are not affected by normal functions like sneezing.)
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.
Alternatively, it may be possible that the phrase began simply as a response for an event that wasn't well understood at the time.

Another urban legend states that you cannot open your eyes while you sneeze, or if you manage to your eyes will pop out. During a sneeze the impulses travel through your face causing your eyelids to blink, this response is entirely automatic.

In many English-speaking countries, the German equivalent, gesundheit (which means "good health"), is used after sneezing or coughing.


[edit] Alternative intent
One other usage of the phrase "Bless you" in response to a sneeze is to bless or thank a person who sneezes but covers his or her mouth and nose with a tissue, handerkerchief, sleeve, or even a hand (hopefully then washing the hands before touching shared items) as an act of concern and courtesy to others, in order to avoid spreading the germs expelled so as not to sicken other people. Presumably, a person who fails to demonstrate such concern and courtesy by not covering the mouth and nose during a sneeze would not be blessed or thanked.

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It goes back to the Great Plague. One of the early symtoms was the victim sneezed. There was no cure death was near, so it was a blessing of the victims soul and/or a prayer for a miracle

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