Robert Dwayne Gruss

ROBERT DWAYNE GRUSS

Born : June 25, 1955
Deceased :

Bishop of Rapid City, 2011-2019
Bishop of Saginaw, 2019-present

Bishop of Rapid City

Bishop of Saginaw

Origin/meaning

As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.

The arms are dominated by a cross estoile, a star-shaped cross that also resembles a compass rose. It alludes both to his former occupation as a commercial pilot, as well as to his responsibility as a priest and bishop to lead the people entrusted to his care along the straight and narrow way that leads to eternal life (cf. Matthew 7:14). Surrounding the compass are four small black crosses; their particular shape and depiction on a silver background recalls the coat of arms of the Diocese of Davenport, where Bishop Gruss spent 30 years of his life and in which he served as a priest for 17 years.
On a silver disc at the center of the compass is a depiction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Bishop Gruss served as rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport from July 2010 until his appointment as Bishop of Rapid City.

The compass is painted blue (azure) to allude to Our Lady, whose vocation, like that of the bishop, is to point the way to the heart of her Son. Thus the Sacred Heart­ such a precious symbol of Our Lord's human nature is placed within the compass, as it first grew within the womb of the Virgin Mary. The white disc behind it recalls the sacred Host, and makes the cross estoile resemble not only a compass but also a monstrance, recalling the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the priest and the life of the Catholic Church.

The achievement is completed with the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of the Holy See, of March 1969, confirmed in March 2001.

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Literature : Information Diocese of Rapid City