In “Life of our Blessed Father Theodosius,” we explore themes of gender, through the role of Theodosius’ mother, and religious devotion and sacrifice. Theodosius’ devotion to his faith through his humility and self sacrificial acts are opposed by his mother who believes his refusal to indulge in material goods brings shame upon their family. In her efforts to preserve her family’s esteem in the eyes of the community, Theodosius’ mother neglects her maternal duties to care for her son and treats him with contempt and abuse. She is concerned with worldly values of social standing and material pleasures rather than obedience to a higher power. The rejection of her feminine caretaking role, Theodosius’ mother also goes against Theodosius’ faith and thus the will of God. Despite her antagonistic role, Theodosius’ mother is still taken pity on by her son who prays for her salvation, again highlighting her sinfulness and immorality of neglecting her son. By finally accepting her son’s faith, Theodosius’ mother dons a veil and takes a passive and subservient role to a greater power, rather than exerting her own power over her son. Through the moral lesson of this tale, gender and religion are tied together to present an idealized version of religious femininity including passivity, reverence to a higher power, and maternal caretaking. Her decision to support Theodosius is not only a submission to God’s will but also the acceptance of her maternal role. This maternal role is also present in the paintings of Russian icons which show male religious figures contrasted against the portraits of Madonna and child. In connection to the story, the female figure is presented as having a supporting and caregiving role to foster male figures’ religious duties. While male religious figures attain sainthood and historical remembrance through great acts of self sacrifice, revere female religious icons attain this through motherhood. Finally, the male figure is expected to go beyond their parental upbringing to fulfill the will of God: “If one does not leave his father or his mother and follow after me, he is not worthy of me” (Life of our Blessed Father Theodosius 124). Again, this paints the female role as bringing life into the world and the male role as transcending their upbringing to achieve a higher purpose. The moral lessons presented within the text also serve to imbue the religious teachings with gendered connotations.