What part do Monks play in the Christian church? I'm really interested in the practices of monks, one of which is being quite confined from society.

I very much respect their practices and am curious to know what fruits they bear in the Christian Church? For instance: Jesus commands us to go and make disciples. Do the Monks find themselves making disciples with newcomers in their monasteries or are there other practices which take place which build up the church?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church has the following to say about consecrated life in general (i.e. professing vows to live in a more dedicated expression of faith, as with friars, monks, sisters, and nuns). Emphasis mine:

916 The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a &quot;more intimate&quot; consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.
926 Religious life derives from the mystery of the Church. It is a gift she has received from her Lord, a gift she offers as a stable way of life to the faithful called by God to profess the [evangelical] counsels. Thus, the Church can both show forth Christ and acknowledge herself to be the Savior's bride. Religious life in its various forms is called to signify the very charity of God in the language of our time.
927 All religious, whether exempt or not, take their place among the collaborators of the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty. From the outset of the work of evangelization, the missionary &quot;planting&quot; and expansion of the Church require the presence of the religious life in all its forms. &quot;History witnesses to the outstanding service rendered by religious families in the propagation of the faith and in the formation of new Churches: from the ancient monastic institutions to the medieval orders, all the way to the more recent congregations.&quot;

So the temporal goals of consecrated life are to:

Provide an example of the world to come (in terms of lifestyle, focus on God, etc)
Provide a stable way of life with which to practice the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience
Signify the charity of God in ways appropriate to the present time
Collaborate with their bishop to evangelize, “plant”, and expand the Church

A monk would be a type of consecrated life called an “eremitic” or “cloistered” life that does not have contact with the world and thus cannot directly evangelize or perform acts of service. The Catechism discusses that too:

The eremitic life
920 Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly, hermits &quot;devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance.&quot;
921 They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.

So the purposes of eremitic life are to:

Demonstrate a personal intimacy with Christ
Be a silent preaching of the Lord