{"id":39176,"date":"2015-02-16T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T08:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=39176"},"modified":"2015-02-14T17:22:13","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T01:22:13","slug":"day-history-february-16th-bless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/day-history-february-16th-bless\/","title":{"rendered":"This Day in History: February 16th- Bless You"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Day In History<\/a>: February 16, 600 C.E.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"sneeze\"<\/a>\u201cBless You!\u201d is the knee-jerk response of most of us in the Western world when someone sneezes. We say it without thought or hesitation, and sometimes dozens of times a day during flu or allergy season. And every time we do, we\u2019re obeying the edict a pope made on February 16, 600 C.E.<\/p>\n

The pope in Question was Gregory I, who ascended the papal throne in 590 as the bubonic plague was cutting a horrible swathe through Europe (the disease was the reason a new pope was needed in the first place). Pope Gregory called for processions and unceasing prayers to beg for God\u2019s protection and intercession.<\/p>\n

Since sneezing was thought to be an early sign of the plague, it was taken very seriously. If someone sneezed, blessings were heaped upon them in the hopes that they would avoid the dreaded disease. \u201cGod bless you\u201d became a common preventative measure against the plague, and Pope Gregory made it official on February 16, 600 C.E.<\/p>\n

Although the advent of the plague formalized the practice of blessing a person after they sneezed, the practice itself originated long before this edict in a variety of cultures. For instance, the Romans said (translated), \u201cMay Jupiter preserve you.\u201d They would also say \u201cSalve,\u201d which means \u201cgood health to you.\u201d After a sneeze, the ancient Greeks would wish one another \u201clong life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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