He lived in a time when the Roman Empire was continuing to crumble. There were invasions from the tribes of the north into Roman Italy. As society and families were crumbling around him, he established monasteries as stable spiritual families in which to live and from which they would minister to the world. Their commitment of "stability" enabled them to stay with the monastery and with the monks as part of the house and family of Christ.
Benedictine monasteries also kept civilization alive in Europe during the Dark Ages. Not only did they nourish the intellectual arts of learning, they also promoted the art of farming during an era of environmental crises caused by terribly inclement weather. Furthermore, Benedict's monasteries were often the center of villages and towns, and so they provided a semblance of orderly, civilized life.
The Benedictine monasteries of the past still give us a model of how celibate monks and nuns, as well as lay associates, can live in a countercultural way that will give courage and hope to the whole of society.
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