After some natural hesitation on the part of the Bishop, she was made a Deaconess--a term applying to anyone who, without belonging to any special order, was under the protection of the Church.[11] She devoted herself to the relief of every kind of distress, bodily and spiritual; and at length the desire came to her to provide permanently for the men and women who came to her for help. So, on an estate which she owned at Poitiers, she founded a nunnery dedicated to the Holy Name, and, probably at the same time, the house for men, separated from the convent by the town wall and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was in S. Mary's that Rhadagund was buried and after her death, her name was added to the dedication. Beside this evidence of association between the two houses, the only other is the correspondence of Rhadagund and the Abbess Agnes with the poet Fortunatus, who was probably a monk of S. Mary's. He certainly seems to have been the director and counsellor of the nuns, and to have been often engaged in business for them; but he did not live in the same house with them for in one of his letters he laments the fact. His letters and verses addressed to the two women throw a strong light on the friendship, and real affection which existed among the three friends. He says that he will work day and night for Rhadagund, draw the water, tend the vines and the garden, cook, wash dishes, anything, rather than that she should do the heavy and menial work of the house. He begs the abbess Agnes to talk often of him with the sisters that he may feel more really that she is his mother. He sends gifts of flowers for their sanctuary, and baskets which he has plaited; and with a basket of violets he sends the following charming verses.[12] (I give a translation which must necessarily be inadequate.) "If the season had yielded me white lilies, according to its wont, or red roses with sweet smelling savour, I had plucked them from the countryside, or from the turf of my little garden, and had sent them, small gifts for great ladies! But since I lack the first, I e'en pay the second, for he presents roses in the eyes of love, who offers only violets. Yet, these violets I send are, among perfumed herbs, of noble stock, and with equal grace breathe in their royal purple, while fragrance with beauty vies to steep their petals. May you, likewise, both have each charm that these possess, and may the perfume of your future reward be a glory that blooms everlastingly."