Mayor Woodford: Tonight’s invocation will be delivered by Alderperson Hartzheim.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13): Thank you, Chair. On this day February 16th in 600 AD Pope Gregory the First also known as Gregory the Great issued a papal decree requiring all Christians to use the expression “God bless you” when in the presence of someone who sneezed. At the time of the decree, the Bubonic plague was spreading across Europe. During this period the plague killed between 25 and 50 million people. It was believed that sneezing spread the disease and in order to protect themselves from the illness Christians should invoke God’s blessing. Some also believe that in the act of sneezing, it left the body unguarded for a moment and this could be enough time for the Devil to enter the persons soul. So requesting God’s blessing at this theorized moment of vulnerability would protect the person who sneezed from such a fate.
Obviously, a great deal has been learned about infectious disease since 600 AD. But “God bless you” remains a common post sneezing refrain for humans. If the phrase could do all that Gregory the Great decreed it could do in terms of disease protection, the last two years of our lives would have been drastically different, would it not?
Tonight I posit that that phrase can and does still do a great deal for the human race as it spreads a message of care and well wishes for fellow human beings through the invocation of God’s blessing, and that is something desperately needed in today’s world of division.
And so, I say to you now, fellow Council members, city staff, Mayor Woodford, and all fellow Appletonians, whether you’ve just sneezed or not, “God bless you.”
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