The custom of saying “God bless you” or “Bless you” after sneezing is said to have come from when the Black Plague was ravaging through Rome and Pope Gregory VII advised people to say “God bless you” when someone sneezed as to protect them from getting the plague as coughing and sneezing were some of the preliminary symptoms of the disease. It is also said to have originated from superstitions that when you sneeze the body is pushing out bad spirits and thus saying “Bless you” was intended to protect both the person who sneezed and the people around them from being negatively affected by these bad spirits. It is also said to have originated from old beliefs that a person’s spirit is contained in air in their head and by sneezing a person’s spirit might accidentallyescape out, thus saying “God bless you” was believed to prevent this from happening by blessing the affected person so that their spirit won’t accidentally escape.

Why, then, do you say "Bless you" when someone sneezes?