On July 9, 1961, the General Council authorized the Prior General, Fr. Eugenio Ayape, to solicit from the Holy See the required rescript with the purpose of proceeding to the division of the Province of Our Lady of Candelaria.

The new province came into being on July 12, 1961 with the title of Our Lady of Consolation. All of the houses which the Province of Candelaria had in Spain, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador plus the residence of Palmira and Cali in Colombia. All religious resident in these houses were also assigned to the new province. There were 16 communities, 170 religious, 15 novices and 247 minor seminarians. Pamplona was chosen as the seat of the provincial government. The first chapter was to be celebrated in 1964.

The first steps than by the new province were evident. The abundance of vocations made it possible to reinforce older ministries and to open new ones. In 1967, the Prior General praised the vigor of the new province as a guarantee of future development. Within six years, seven new ministries were established and the number of new religious increased by 37, from 170 to 207.

The broadening of the apostolic horizons was the most visible aspect of the province in these years. This was not, however, the only notable characteristic. In addition, the attention given to the academic preparation of the religious was quite outstanding. The first provincial in a letter to the community promised that he would dedicate his greatest efforts to the formation of the youth no matter what the sacrifice.

Nonetheless, around this time, certain symptoms of fatigue and discontent began to cast a shadow. In spite of all, a good community spirit was maintained and traditional discipline was respected but the traditional optimism began losing ground to a certain anxiety which created a state of endless questioning.