diff --git a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/forms.py b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/forms.py
index 4f65fa883..997bc561b 100644
--- a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/forms.py
+++ b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/forms.py
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 from django import forms
 from django.contrib.auth.forms import ReadOnlyPasswordHashField
+from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.db.models import Q
+from django.contrib.admin.widgets import (
+    FilteredSelectMultiple,
+)
+from django.forms.widgets import CheckboxSelectMultiple
+from dal import autocomplete
+from volpiano_display_utilities.cantus_text_syllabification import syllabify_text
+from volpiano_display_utilities.latin_word_syllabification import LatinError
 from .models import (
     Chant,
     Service,
@@ -22,13 +31,6 @@
     SelectWidget,
     CheckboxWidget,
 )
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-from django.db.models import Q
-from django.contrib.admin.widgets import (
-    FilteredSelectMultiple,
-)
-from django.forms.widgets import CheckboxSelectMultiple
-from dal import autocomplete
 
 # ModelForm allows to build a form directly from a model
 # see https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/topics/forms/modelforms/
@@ -71,6 +73,40 @@ def label_from_instance(self, obj):
     widget = CheckboxSelectMultiple()
 
 
+class CantusDBLatinField(forms.CharField):
+    """
+    A custom CharField for chant text fields. Validates that the text
+    can be syllabified (essentially, that it does not have any improper
+    characters).
+    """
+
+    def validate(self, value):
+        super().validate(value)
+        if value:
+            try:
+                syllabify_text(value)
+            except LatinError as err:
+                raise forms.ValidationError(str(err))
+            except ValueError as exc:
+                raise forms.ValidationError("Invalid characters in text.") from exc
+
+
+class CantusDBSyllabifiedLatinField(forms.CharField):
+    """
+    A custom CharField for chant syllabified text fields. Validates that the text
+    can be syllabified (essentially, that it does not have any improper
+    characters).
+    """
+
+    def validate(self, value):
+        super().validate(value)
+        if value:
+            try:
+                syllabify_text(value, text_presyllabified=True)
+            except ValueError as exc:
+                raise forms.ValidationError("Invalid characters in text.") from exc
+
+
 class ChantCreateForm(forms.ModelForm):
     class Meta:
         model = Chant
@@ -125,8 +161,8 @@ class Meta:
             "finalis": TextInputWidget(),
             "extra": TextInputWidget(),
             "chant_range": VolpianoInputWidget(),
-            # manuscript_full_text_std_spelling: defined below (required)
-            "manuscript_full_text": TextAreaWidget(),
+            # manuscript_full_text_std_spelling: defined below (required & special field)
+            # "manuscript_full_text": defined below (special field)
             "volpiano": VolpianoAreaWidget(),
             "image_link": TextInputWidget(),
             "melody_id": TextInputWidget(),
@@ -153,14 +189,18 @@ class Meta:
         help_text="Each folio starts with '1'.",
     )
 
-    manuscript_full_text_std_spelling = forms.CharField(
+    manuscript_full_text_std_spelling = CantusDBLatinField(
+        widget=TextAreaWidget,
+        help_text=Chant._meta.get_field("manuscript_full_text_std_spelling").help_text,
+        label="Full text as in Source (standardized spelling)",
         required=True,
+    )
+
+    manuscript_full_text = CantusDBLatinField(
         widget=TextAreaWidget,
-        help_text="Manuscript full text with standardized spelling. Enter the words "
-        "according to the manuscript but normalize their spellings following "
-        "Classical Latin forms. Use upper-case letters for proper nouns, "
-        'the first word of each chant, and the first word after "Alleluia" for '
-        "Mass Alleluias. Punctuation is omitted.",
+        label="Full text as in Source (source spelling)",
+        help_text=Chant._meta.get_field("manuscript_full_text").help_text,
+        required=False,
     )
 
     project = SelectWidgetNameModelChoiceField(
@@ -319,8 +359,8 @@ class Meta:
             "rubrics",
         ]
         widgets = {
-            # manuscript_full_text_std_spelling: defined below (required)
-            "manuscript_full_text": TextAreaWidget(),
+            # manuscript_full_text_std_spelling: defined below (required) & special field
+            # manuscript_full_text: defined below (special field)
             "volpiano": VolpianoAreaWidget(),
             "marginalia": TextInputWidget(),
             # folio: defined below (required)
@@ -354,14 +394,18 @@ class Meta:
             "rubrics": TextInputWidget(),
         }
 
-    manuscript_full_text_std_spelling = forms.CharField(
+    manuscript_full_text_std_spelling = CantusDBLatinField(
+        widget=TextAreaWidget,
+        help_text=Chant._meta.get_field("manuscript_full_text_std_spelling").help_text,
+        label="Full text as in Source (standardized spelling)",
         required=True,
+    )
+
+    manuscript_full_text = CantusDBLatinField(
         widget=TextAreaWidget,
-        help_text="Manuscript full text with standardized spelling. Enter the words "
-        "according to the manuscript but normalize their spellings following "
-        "Classical Latin forms. Use upper-case letters for proper nouns, "
-        'the first word of each chant, and the first word after "Alleluia" for '
-        "Mass Alleluias. Punctuation is omitted.",
+        label="Full text as in Source (source spelling)",
+        help_text=Chant._meta.get_field("manuscript_full_text").help_text,
+        required=False,
     )
 
     folio = forms.CharField(
@@ -550,10 +594,14 @@ class Meta:
             "manuscript_full_text",
             "manuscript_syllabized_full_text",
         ]
-        widgets = {
-            "manuscript_full_text": TextAreaWidget(),
-            "manuscript_syllabized_full_text": TextAreaWidget(),
-        }
+
+    manuscript_full_text = CantusDBLatinField(
+        widget=TextAreaWidget, label="Full text as in Source (source spelling)"
+    )
+
+    manuscript_syllabized_full_text = CantusDBSyllabifiedLatinField(
+        widget=TextAreaWidget, label="Syllabized full text"
+    )
 
 
 class AdminCenturyForm(forms.ModelForm):
@@ -738,10 +786,7 @@ class Meta:
         widget=TextInputWidget,
     )
 
-    name = forms.CharField(
-        required=False,
-        widget=TextInputWidget
-    )
+    name = forms.CharField(required=False, widget=TextInputWidget)
 
     holding_institution = forms.ModelChoiceField(
         queryset=Institution.objects.all().order_by("name"),
diff --git a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_create.html b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_create.html
index 5aec5de03..4b29bb0bb 100644
--- a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_create.html
+++ b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_create.html
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ <h3>Create Chant</h3>
     
         <div class="form-row align-items-end">
             <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg">
-                <label for="{{ form.manuscript_full_text_std_spelling.id_for_label }}"><small>Full text as in Source (standardized spelling):<span class="text-danger" title="This field is required">*</span></small></label>
+                <label for="{{ form.manuscript_full_text_std_spelling.id_for_label }}" class="small">{{ form.manuscript_full_text_std_spelling.label_tag }}<span class="text-danger" title="This field is required">*</span></label>
                 {{ form.manuscript_full_text_std_spelling }}
                 <p>
                     <small class="text-muted">{{ form.manuscript_full_text_std_spelling.help_text }}
@@ -241,8 +241,7 @@ <h3>Create Chant</h3>
 
         <div class="form-row align-items-end">
             <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg">
-                <label for="{{ form.manuscript_full_text.id_for_label }}"><small>Full text as in Source
-                        (source spelling): </small></label>
+                <label for="{{ form.manuscript_full_text.id_for_label }}" class="small">{{ form.manuscript_full_text.label_tag }}</label>
                 {{ form.manuscript_full_text }}
                 <p class="text-muted" style="line-height: normal">
                     <small>{{ form.manuscript_full_text.help_text }}
diff --git a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_edit.html b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_edit.html
index 038eef616..47860c7d5 100644
--- a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_edit.html
+++ b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_edit.html
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     <!--Display messages -->
     {% for message in messages %}
         <div class="alert {{ message.tags }} alert-dismissible" role="alert" >
+            <a href="#" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="close">&times;</a>
             {{ message }}
         </div>
     {% endfor %}
@@ -283,25 +284,33 @@
                             <p><small>Syllabification is based on saved syllabized text.</small></p>
                         {% endif %}
                         <dd>
-                            {% for syl_text, syl_mel in syllabized_text_with_melody %}
-                                <span style="float: left">
-                                    <div style="font-family: volpiano; font-size: 36px">{{ syl_mel }}</div>
-                                    <!-- "mt" is margin at the top, so that the lowest note in volpiano don't overlap with text -->
-                                    <div class="mt-2" style="font-size: 12px; "><pre>{{ syl_text }}</pre></div>
-                                </span>
-                            {% endfor %}
+                            {% if syllabized_text_with_melody %}
+                                {% for syl_text, syl_mel in syllabized_text_with_melody %}
+                                    <span style="float: left">
+                                        <div style="font-family: volpiano; font-size: 36px">{{ syl_mel }}</div>
+                                        <!-- "mt" is margin at the top, so that the lowest note in volpiano don't overlap with text -->
+                                        <div class="mt-2" style="font-size: 12px; "><pre>{{ syl_text }}</pre></div>
+                                    </span>
+                                {% endfor %}
+                            {% else %}
+                                <p>Error aligning text and melody. Please check text for invalid characters.</p>
+                            {% endif %}
                         </dd>
                     </div>
                 </div>
             {% endif %}
 
-            <div class="form-row">
-                <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg-4">
-                    <a href="{% url "source-edit-syllabification" chant.id %}" style="display: inline-block; margin-top:5px;" target="_blank">
-                        <small>Edit syllabification (new window)</small>
-                    </a>
+            <!-- If there's no syllabized_text_with_melody (either there's no volpiano to align or there's an
+             error in the text), there's no need for the user to edit the syllabification. -->
+            {% if syllabized_text_with_melody %}
+                <div class="form-row">
+                    <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg-4">
+                        <a href="{% url "source-edit-syllabification" chant.id %}" style="display: inline-block; margin-top:5px;" target="_blank">
+                            <small>Edit syllabification (new window)</small>
+                        </a>
+                    </div>
                 </div>
-            </div>
+            {% endif %}
 
             <div class="form-row">
                 <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg-12">
diff --git a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_syllabification_edit.html b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_syllabification_edit.html
index 446afd73a..65b49f09f 100644
--- a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_syllabification_edit.html
+++ b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/templates/chant_syllabification_edit.html
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
             <!--Display messages -->
             {% for message in messages %}
                 <div class="alert {{ message.tags }} alert-dismissible" role="alert" >
+                    <a href="#" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="close">&times;</a>s
                     {{ message }}
                 </div>
             {% endfor %}
@@ -37,8 +38,8 @@ <h3>Edit Syllabification</h3>
 
                 <div class="form-row">
                     <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg-12">
-                        <label for="{{ form.manuscript_full_text.id_for_label }}">
-                            <small><b>Manuscript Reading Full Text (MS spelling):</b></small>
+                        <label for="{{ form.manuscript_full_text.id_for_label }}" class="small font-weight-bold">
+                            {{ form.manuscript_full_text.label_tag }}
                         </label>
                         {{ form.manuscript_full_text }}
                     </div>
@@ -46,8 +47,8 @@ <h3>Edit Syllabification</h3>
 
                 <div class="form-row">
                     <div class="form-group m-1 col-lg-12">
-                        <label for="{{ form.manuscript_syllabized_full_text.id_for_label }}">
-                            <small><b>Syllabized Full Text:</b></small>
+                        <label for="{{ form.manuscript_syllabized_full_text.id_for_label }}" class="small font-weight-bold">
+                            {{ form.manuscript_syllabized_full_text.label_tag }}
                         </label>
                         {{ form.manuscript_syllabized_full_text }}
                     </div>
diff --git a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/tests/test_views/test_chant.py b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/tests/test_views/test_chant.py
index 0d8374a47..d91ef212c 100644
--- a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/tests/test_views/test_chant.py
+++ b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/tests/test_views/test_chant.py
@@ -164,7 +164,6 @@ def setUp(self):
         self.user = get_user_model().objects.create(email="test@test.com")
         self.user.set_password("pass")
         self.user.save()
-        self.client = Client()
         project_manager = Group.objects.get(name="project manager")
         project_manager.user_set.add(self.user)
         self.client.login(email="test@test.com", password="pass")
@@ -323,6 +322,44 @@ def test_proofread_chant(self):
         chant.refresh_from_db()
         self.assertIs(chant.manuscript_full_text_std_proofread, True)
 
+    def test_invalid_text(self) -> None:
+        """
+        The user should not be able to create a chant with invalid text
+        (either invalid characters or unmatched brackets).
+        Instead, the user should be shown an error message.
+        """
+        source = make_fake_source()
+        with self.subTest("Chant with invalid characters"):
+            response = self.client.post(
+                reverse("source-edit-chants", args=[source.id]),
+                {
+                    "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling": "this is a ch@nt t%xt with inv&lid ch!ra+ers",
+                    "folio": "001r",
+                    "c_sequence": "1",
+                },
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+            self.assertFormError(
+                response.context["form"],
+                "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling",
+                "Invalid characters in text.",
+            )
+        with self.subTest("Chant with unmatched brackets"):
+            response = self.client.post(
+                reverse("source-edit-chants", args=[source.id]),
+                {
+                    "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling": "this is a chant with [ unmatched brackets",
+                    "folio": "001r",
+                    "c_sequence": "1",
+                },
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+            self.assertFormError(
+                response.context["form"],
+                "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling",
+                "Word [ contains non-alphabetic characters.",
+            )
+
 
 class ChantEditSyllabificationViewTest(TestCase):
     @classmethod
@@ -363,7 +400,10 @@ def test_edit_syllabification(self):
         self.assertEqual(chant.manuscript_syllabized_full_text, "lorem ipsum")
         response = self.client.post(
             f"/edit-syllabification/{chant.id}",
-            {"manuscript_syllabized_full_text": "lore-m i-psum"},
+            {
+                "manuscript_full_text": "lorem ipsum",
+                "manuscript_syllabized_full_text": "lore-m i-psum",
+            },
         )
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 302)  # 302 Found
         chant.refresh_from_db()
@@ -2817,13 +2857,13 @@ def test_repeated_seq(self) -> None:
         for i in range(1, 5):
             Chant.objects.create(
                 source=source,
-                manuscript_full_text=faker.text(10),
+                manuscript_full_text=" ".join(faker.words(faker.random_int(3, 10))),
                 folio=test_folio,
                 c_sequence=i,
             )
         # post a chant with the same folio and seq
         url = reverse("chant-create", args=[source.id])
-        fake_text = faker.text(10)
+        fake_text = "this is also a fake but valid text"
         response = self.client.post(
             url,
             data={
@@ -2960,6 +3000,45 @@ def test_suggested_chant_buttons(self) -> None:
             )
             self.assertIsNone(response_after_rare_chant.context["suggested_chants"])
 
+    def test_invalid_text(self) -> None:
+        """
+        The user should not be able to create a chant with invalid text
+        (either invalid characters or unmatched brackets).
+        Instead, the user should be shown an error message.
+        """
+        with self.subTest("Chant with invalid characters"):
+            source = self.source
+            response = self.client.post(
+                reverse("chant-create", args=[source.id]),
+                {
+                    "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling": "this is a ch@nt t%xt with inv&lid ch!ra+ers",
+                    "folio": "001r",
+                    "c_sequence": "1",
+                },
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+            self.assertFormError(
+                response.context["form"],
+                "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling",
+                "Invalid characters in text.",
+            )
+        with self.subTest("Chant with unmatched brackets"):
+            source = self.source
+            response = self.client.post(
+                reverse("chant-create", args=[source.id]),
+                {
+                    "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling": "this is a chant with [ unmatched brackets",
+                    "folio": "001r",
+                    "c_sequence": "1",
+                },
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+            self.assertFormError(
+                response.context["form"],
+                "manuscript_full_text_std_spelling",
+                "Word [ contains non-alphabetic characters.",
+            )
+
 
 class CISearchViewTest(TestCase):
 
diff --git a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/views/chant.py b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/views/chant.py
index b0bbdfbc2..654fdf71f 100644
--- a/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/views/chant.py
+++ b/django/cantusdb_project/main_app/views/chant.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from django.contrib.auth.mixins import UserPassesTestMixin
 from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
 from django.db.models import Q, QuerySet
+from django.forms import BaseModelForm
 from django.http import Http404, HttpResponse
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
 from django.urls import reverse
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@
     TemplateView,
     UpdateView,
 )
+from volpiano_display_utilities.latin_word_syllabification import LatinError
 from volpiano_display_utilities.cantus_text_syllabification import (
     syllabify_text,
     flatten_syllabified_text,
@@ -205,11 +207,14 @@ def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
         # syllabification section
         if chant.volpiano:
             has_syl_text = bool(chant.manuscript_syllabized_full_text)
-            text_and_mel, _ = align_text_and_volpiano(
-                chant.get_best_text_for_syllabizing(),
-                chant.volpiano,
-                text_presyllabified=has_syl_text,
-            )
+            try:
+                text_and_mel, _ = align_text_and_volpiano(
+                    chant.get_best_text_for_syllabizing(),
+                    chant.volpiano,
+                    text_presyllabified=has_syl_text,
+                )
+            except LatinError:
+                text_and_mel = None
             context["syllabized_text_with_melody"] = text_and_mel
 
         if project := chant.project:
@@ -848,16 +853,19 @@ def get_context_data(self, **kwargs: Any) -> dict[Any, Any]:
                 suggested_chants = get_suggested_chants(previous_cantus_id)
         context["suggested_feasts"] = suggested_feasts
         context["suggested_chants"] = suggested_chants
-
         return context
 
     def form_valid(self, form):
-        """compute source, incipit; folio/sequence (if left empty)
-        validate the form: add success/error message
+        """
+        Validates the new chant.
+
+        Custom validation steps are:
+        - Check if a chant with the same sequence and folio already exists in the source.
+        - Compute the chant incipit.
+        - Adds the "created_by" and "updated_by" fields to the chant.
         """
         # compute source
-        form.instance.source = self.source  # same effect as the next line
-        # form.instance.source = get_object_or_404(Source, pk=self.kwargs['source_pk'])
+        form.instance.source = self.source
 
         # compute incipit, within 30 charactors, keep words complete
         words = form.instance.manuscript_full_text_std_spelling.split(" ")
@@ -893,8 +901,7 @@ def form_valid(self, form):
                 "Chant '" + form.instance.incipit + "' created successfully!",
             )
             return super().form_valid(form)
-        else:
-            return super().form_invalid(form)
+        return super().form_invalid(form)
 
 
 class ChantDeleteView(LoginRequiredMixin, UserPassesTestMixin, DeleteView):
@@ -1113,11 +1120,18 @@ def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
             has_syl_text = bool(chant.manuscript_syllabized_full_text)
             # Note: the second value returned is a flag indicating whether the alignment process
             # encountered errors. In future, this could be used to display a message to the user.
-            text_and_mel, _ = align_text_and_volpiano(
-                chant.get_best_text_for_syllabizing(),
-                chant.volpiano,
-                text_presyllabified=has_syl_text,
-            )
+            try:
+                text_and_mel, _ = align_text_and_volpiano(
+                    chant.get_best_text_for_syllabizing(),
+                    chant.volpiano,
+                    text_presyllabified=has_syl_text,
+                )
+            except LatinError as err:
+                messages.error(
+                    self.request,
+                    "Error in aligning text and melody: " + str(err),
+                )
+                text_and_mel = None
             context["syllabized_text_with_melody"] = text_and_mel
 
         user = self.request.user
@@ -1224,12 +1238,20 @@ def get_initial(self):
         initial = super().get_initial()
         chant = self.get_object()
         has_syl_text = bool(chant.manuscript_syllabized_full_text)
-        syls_text, _ = syllabify_text(
-            text=chant.get_best_text_for_syllabizing(),
-            clean_text=True,
-            text_presyllabified=has_syl_text,
-        )
-        self.flattened_syls_text = flatten_syllabified_text(syls_text)
+        try:
+            syls_text, _ = syllabify_text(
+                text=chant.get_best_text_for_syllabizing(),
+                clean_text=True,
+                text_presyllabified=has_syl_text,
+            )
+            self.flattened_syls_text = flatten_syllabified_text(syls_text)
+        except LatinError as err:
+            messages.error(
+                self.request,
+                "Error in syllabifying text: " + str(err),
+            )
+            syls_text = None
+            self.flattened_syls_text = ""
         initial["manuscript_syllabized_full_text"] = self.flattened_syls_text
         return initial