Ekaterina Efimovskaya, known in the world as Evgenia Borisovna Efimovskaya, came from an aristocratic family and had a literary education. At a certain point, she decided to dedicate herself to monastic life. This decision was supported by her spiritual mentor, Metropolitan Leonty, Archbishop of Warsaw, who offered her service in the Kholm region in Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

In her new place, the nun Ekaterina, who received the rank of abbess, was welcomed by the local Lesninskaya icon of the Mother of God. This image later became a shrine of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God, which she founded in 1889 and led until 1908.

A children's school and nursery were opened at the monastery, which was a novelty for Russia at that time. Also, thanks to Efimovskaya's efforts, a home for the elderly and a hospital serving up to several thousand patients a year operated at the monastery. The nuns prepared medicines themselves and distributed them for free even to outpatient patients.

Efimovskaya believed that in women's monasticism, deeds are more important than self-love. She corresponded with authoritative hierarchs, studied theology, and wrote a work titled "On Deaconesses."

Over time, the monastery became the largest center of Orthodoxy in Poland and enjoyed the patronage of the Russian imperial family, which visited it twice. In memory of the royal family's visit to Lesna in 1900, Abbess Ekaterina built a chapel in the city of Biała in the Siedlce province.

In 1907, due to health problems, Efimovskaya formally transferred the post of abbess to Abbess Nina but continued to lead the monastery during difficult times, including World War I.

After the October Revolution, the monastery moved to Serbia, where Ekaterina passed away on October 28, 1925. Later, the Lesninsk Monastery was revived in France.