The monk was born in Vologda around 1530 and was brought up in piety and the fear of God. Upon reaching adulthood, at the insistence of his parents, the saint married and had a daughter, but family life did not distract the saint from active love for God. He attended church diligently, prayed a lot at home, especially at night. After the death of his parents and wife, having given all his fortune to relatives for the upbringing of his daughter, Theodosius retired to the Vologda Transfiguration Monastery of St. Dimitri Prilutsky and, having taken vows here, humbly carried out all the difficult monastic obediences: chopping firewood, baking bread, grinding flour, doing everything with zeal.
Having gone on behalf of the abbot of the monastery to Totma to look after the monastery saltworks, he took care of the workers and was gentle and merciful to them. His management was such that never before had saltworks brought in as much income as they had under him. After the inhabitants of Totma began to move to a new place, the monk wished to establish a monastery in these places. The population of Totma and the surrounding villages, who knew and loved the Monk Theodosius back in Varnitsy, heard about this, came to him and brought everything necessary for life. In 1554, having received a royal non-judicial letter and, as a blessing from the Prilutsky monastery, an icon of the Mother of God (now known as the Sumor Wonderworking One), the Monk Theodosius began to organize the monastery and within one year, with the help of neighboring residents, he erected a wooden church, a refectory, cells and other necessary buildings.
Having received a good education in his youth, the saint aspired to the spiritual enlightenment of the brethren and eventually gathered an extensive library in the monastery. Through the efforts of the monk, the desolate Ephraim desert was also restored in the same Totem district. Being the rector of two monasteries now, the Monk Theodosius was constantly in prayer and labors, setting an example to the brethren. Foreseeing his imminent demise, the saint left a spiritual testament, in which, in particular, he persistently emphasized the need for church prayer for all the deceased, and peacefully rested on January 28, 1568. About 150 posthumous miracles of the monk are known.
On September 2, 1796, during the reconstruction of the temple, the incorruptible relics of the saint were found, which now rest in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Totma.