The New Testament (NT) has Jesus say, “Do this in memory of me”. He does not say how often and the problem before us is the various answers given to that question throughout history. In considering this point, we must consider the established Christian Eucharistic tradition in this command to repeat reported by Luke and Paul in First Corinthians though not by Mark or Matthew. Whether Jesus actually said it and whether what ultimately emerged as the Eucharist goes against the original expectation of an imminent parousia (i.e., the second coming of Jesus) cannot be discerned.
The main interest here is not the frequency of communion (i.e., with what frequency the faithful actually received the Eucharist) but rather with what frequency the liturgy was celebrated or communion made available to communicants.
From the NT we can conclude nothing certain about eucharistic frequency. All were assiduous at the breaking of the bread, though how often is not indicated: the daily of Acts 2:46 refers with certainty only to the temple prayer. An incipient Sunday rhythm may be implied in Acts 20:7-12 and 1 Corinthians 16:2, and one might infer the same from the meals of the Risen Lord on the first day, or from the parallelism between the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Day in Revelations 1:10.
By the middle of the second century, however, the picture is clear: for the community synaxis (gathering), Sunday and Eucharist form a unity as the symbolic celebration of the presence of the Risen Lord amidst his own, a presence that signals the arrival of the New Age. And it is generally agreed that everyone present communicated.
Although this Sunday Synaxis was initially the only common Eucharist, it was customary for the faithful to take from it enough of the blessed gifts for communion during the week. The evidence for this from Tertullian on is unquestionable. This practice of communion outside Liturgy lasted among the laity until the seventh century, and even longer in monastic circles.
So the practice was that the elder of the home, typically the father, would take enough communion home with him to be distributed to the family during the week at a meal. A special place was reserved in the home for keeping the eucharist.
By the end of the second century we also see a filling out of community worship. Liturgies were celebrated at martyrs’ tombs on the anniversary of their victory. Saturday is gradually assimilated to Sunday and by the fourth century has acquired a eucharistic celebration everywhere except Rome and Alexandria. Like all things in the Church, weekly Liturgy was a gradual development