The aim of the article is to deal with heart as the centre of human life in the theology of Theophan the Recluse and to find how he followed the Fathers. A short biography of Theophan the Recluse follows the interpretation of the heart by the authors, who have been studying the life and work of Theophan. The authors look at the heart as the centre of human life, but more often as a place of spiritual fight and meeting with God. The point of view of the Greek fathers, i. e. heart as the centre of human existence, and the classification of sentiments of heart by Theophan, as a result of the relationship between heart and body-soul-spirit, present heart as the centre of a person. The comparison of some passages from the Fathers (Macarius and Hesychius) with the texts of Theophan shows that heart is the centre of a person, and is mainly a place of spiritual fight. At the end, we ask about the reason of Theophan's interest in the Fathers. The answer is the struggle for the return of man and all of Russia, divided in those times by the influence of intellectuals from West Europe, to its original organic unity and integrity.