Church Fathers Commentary Luke 1:54-55

"He hath given help to Israel his servant, That he might remember mercy (As he spake unto our fathers) Toward Abraham and his seed for ever." — Luke 1:54-55 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: After a general mention of the Divine mercy and holiness, the Virgin changes the subject to the strange and marvelous dispensation of the new incarnation, saying, He has helped his servant Israel, etc., as a physician relieves the sick, becoming visible among men so that He might make Israel (that is, him who sees God) His servant.

The Venerable Bede: That is, obedient and humble, for he who refuses to be made humble cannot be saved.

St. Basil the Great: For by Israel she does not mean Israel after the flesh, whose own title made them noble, but the spiritual Israel, which retained the name of faith, straining their eyes to see God by faith.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It might also be applied to Israel after the flesh, since from that nation many believed. But He did this remembering His mercy, for He has fulfilled what He promised to Abraham, saying, For in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. This promise, then, the mother of God recalled, saying, "As he spoke to our father Abraham," for it was said to Abraham, I will place my covenant, that I shall be your God, and the God of your seed after you.

The Venerable Bede: But by "seed" he means not so much those who are begotten in the flesh as those who have followed the steps of Abraham’s faith, to whom the Savior’s coming was promised forever.

Glossa Ordinaria: For this promise of inheritance will not be confined by any limits, but to the very end of time believers will never be lacking, and the glory of their happiness will be everlasting.